While most of us were preparing to celebrate a long Independence Day weekend, a group of law enforcement agencies from the State and around Sheboygan County including the Sheriff’s Office sprung into action, arresting five individuals on charges related to human trafficking. Four were charged with Pandering / Soliciting, and one was charged with Solicitation of Prostitutes. In reporting the operation that took place on July 1st, the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office said that “Human Sex Trafficking at any level will not be tolerated by our law enforcement agencies in Sheboygan County.”
One person who read our story online, known only as “Anne”, challenged the idea that the arrests were human trafficking, and opined that “Prostitution and human trafficking are two separate things. Sheboygan Co Sheriff did not make any true “human trafficking” arrests. They like to take credit for “human trafficking” arrests, but they make no real difference.”
That comment prompted a deeper look into the subject, and what we found was revealing.
Wisconsin Law Defines “Human Trafficking”
First, “Human Trafficking” under state law requires some specific conditions. Under state statutes, “Trafficking” means “recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining an individual without consent of the individual or attempting to do any of the same. A person in Wisconsin is guilty of a Class D felony of “Human Trafficking” if he or she knowingly engages in trafficking “for the purpose of a labor or services or commercial sex act and the trafficking is done through any of the following:
a. Causing or threatening to cause bodily harm to any individual
b. Causing or threatening to cause financial harm to any individual
c. Restraining or threatening to restrain any individual
d. Violating or threatening to violate a law
e. Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing any actual or purported passport or official document of any individual or threatening to do the same
f. Extortion
g. Fraud or deception
h. Debt bondage
i. Controlling any individual’s access to an addictive controlled substance
j. Using a scheme or pattern to cause an individual to believe that any individual would suffer bodily harm, financial harm, restraint, or other harm.
(Wisconsin Human Trafficking Statute §940.302, emphasis from state document)
The conditions of Human Trafficking under those statutes are even simpler when a minor child is involved in sex trafficking, defining that crime for “Whoever knowingly recruits, entices, provides, obtains, or harbors any child for the purpose of commercial sex acts or sexually explicit performance,or knowingly attempts to do any of the same.”
Sheboygan County Sheriff Detective Scott Wieland is a sort of “specialist” within the department on human trafficking. When we asked him if the persons arrested on July 1st had violated the Wisconsin statutes on Human Trafficking and that this was not just a prostitution case, he replied “I would agree with that!” He emphasized that the acts that prompted the arrests contained elements of “…force, fraud, or coercion that comes into play with trafficking, versus what would be considered prostitution.” He continued, “There’s also the element of providing or withholding of drugs. Now, when you’re referring to juveniles, of course, there’s no force, fraud or coercion required at that point.” We asked Wieland if any juveniles were involved in the case, and he told us “No”, although did say that in some other cases the hunt for victims has involved age-specific requests from the buyer, and he later added that “My goal, in my career at least…always to protect the children because, face it – adults do make very bad choices for our kids. And, so they’re some of the most vulnerable populations out there. That’s the thrust of my career field.”
The Crime That’s in Plain View
The persons arrested in the operation conducted earlier this month were identified through what Detective Matt Spence of the Sheriff’s Office called “popular publicly available online websites that have been specifically generated for the purpose of connecting individuals for the purpose of arranging sexual encounters in exchange for money.” We asked Wieland if this amounted to “easy pickings”, and he replied “I think so, I mean, there’s…there’s applications, if you will, that are, some of them our children are using…you know, Snapchat, TikTok and others that are out there, that make our kids vulnerable. This really boils down to vulnerabilities, when it comes to the victim side of things, and those vulnerabilities are exploited by the traffickers.”
Considering those vulnerabilities, we asked Wieland if he was concerned about minors using what many would consider “everyday platforms”, and he replied “It’s a huge concern.” He said “Absolutely” that no “dark-web” apps are needed, nor is there any special software required in Human Trafficking. He said “It’s the crime that’s in plain view.” He later agreed that parents have to be “nosey” about their children’s use of social media, and said that parents need to make sure that their children have some trusted friends and adults they can turn to if they need help.
Human Trafficking in Sheboygan County is Prevalent
Wieland made it clear that Human Trafficking is not a rarity in Sheboygan County, telling us “…so, human trafficking, as you can see from that operation (of July 1st) is prevalent. I mean, that was a Thursday afternoon where we conducted it, it’s not prime hours in which we conducted it, but yet we made five arrests. And quite honestly, there was quite a few more other individuals that were, as I would put it, “on the hook” so to speak, meaning that they were interested in obtaining sex acts, but they, for whatever reason, got nervous and backed out. So it is quite prevalent.” Wieland said that the Sheriff’s Office deals with human trafficking investigations on a fairly regular basis, both in the City of Sheboygan and throughout the county. And Wieland is also on a number of different teams to address those concerns with human trafficking in Sheboygan County specifically, both from the aspect of controlling the crime, and for helping the victims.
It’s not Just About Sex
Detective Wieland said that two different kinds of human trafficking are occurring. He said “there’s labor; there’s also the sex trafficking which is what this discussion is mainly geared towards, but we don’t want to forget the labor aspect of things. You know, if you take into consideration the immigration that’s apparently in the news on a regular basis, that would be something that would be exploited as labor trafficking.”
That immigration status can be used to keep the victim trapped by convincing the victim that law enforcement is the “bad guy, and I, the trafficker, are here to help you. I’m your family.”, they will tell the victim. The traffickers will also use a “debt” aspect by telling an immigrant, “…hey, we got you to this point, you’re in Wisconsin and now you owe us a debt, and the way to pay off that debt is to work.”, according to Wieland.
“Truth be told,” said Wieland, “here in Sheboygan County, we’ve determined that we would issue charges against those involved with sex trafficking that are picked up as victims. But that’s used as a tool, meaning, that’s our feather-in-our-cap that the victims will follow through with obtaining the help they need and getting the resources, because there’s mandatory court appearance dates that they would have to consider.” And Wieland said that even though the Sheriff’s Office will recommend charges, it would still be up to the District Attorney to issue the charges.
Wieland says that victims are referred to support services to help them when needed. He said that they rely upon shelter care locally through, among others, Safe Harbor which has advocates and counselors. Outside of Sheboygan County there is the Convergence Resource Center in Milwaukee that provides trauma-informed care for justice-involved women and human trafficking survivors. RAYS, a local runaway youth service also helps youth who are at risk, or at high risk to be trafficked.
Be Safe, Get Help
Detective Wieland said there are some basic safety tips that can help defend against trafficking. He said, “You know, when people are concerned about, you know, are my son or daughter being trafficked, or would they be vulnerable to being trafficked, or my niece, or nephew, that type of thing, you can definitely have that open line of communication with your family member. Remind your children to hang out in groups. You know, don’t go alone, don’t walk the streets on your own, and limit the social media, especially the information that’s shared on social media. And definitely continue to ask those questions, where your youth as been and what they’ve been up to. Be very intentional about that.”
As for finding help, any law enforcement agency can assist. “You know,” he said, “if you see an example of something that might be an example of trafficking, if you will, definitely give us a call. If it’s something that’s taking place right in front of your eyes, such as an abduction if you will, then definitely call 9-1-1 and give us the information you can without putting yourself in harm’s way.”
As for that question about trafficking vs. prostitution, Wieland said that the operation conducted on July 1st involved “the coercion portion, versus someone who’s consensually prostituting themselves.”
Q: “Which is a crime, and they could be prosecuted if they’re caught in this?”
A: “Correct.”
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