CLICK HERE FOR PDF

by Linda Oberhaus

At 16, Ellie couldn’t believe her luck. After answering an ad on Craigslist, she was flown from California to Miami, with promises of her dream job in modeling. Three years later, battered and bruised, Ellie was brought to The Shelter for Abused Women & Children from the hospital. Instead of a dream job, she had been thrust into a nightmare of violence and forced prostitution with a trafficker who sold her for sex on a website called Back Page.

Ellie’s story epitomizes the unspeakable dehumanization suffered by thousands of human trafficking victims exploited for sexual purposes or forced labor in the United States. But she is one of the lucky ones. The average life span of a human trafficking victim is seven years; Ellie got out in three, thanks to deputies, who identified her as a victim rather than a criminal. Ellie cooperated fully with local law enforcement.

She found safe housing, clothing and counseling at The Shelter and was ultimately reunited with her mother in California. Unfortunately, most cases of human trafficking don’t have happy endings.

January marks National Human Trafficking Awareness Month and it is noteworthy that just this past week, two suspected traffickers were arrested and four victims rescued in Collier County.

This follows on the March 2015 bust of the largest human trafficking sting ever uncovered in our area, with 10 arrests and approximately 15 victims rescued. Obviously, human trafficking has found a home in Collier County.

As you read this commentary, human trafficking is the fastest­ growing and third largest organized criminal activity in the world, just behind the drug and arms trades. Florida ranks third in the nation for calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. In Collier County, the number of human trafficking related investigations jumped from seven in 2013 to 27 in 2014, after the establishment of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office human trafficking unit.

Human trafficking is a lucrative industry, representing an estimated $9.8 billion in the U.S. and $32 billion internationally. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a trafficker can make up to $150,000­$200,000 per person each year and the average pimp has four to six girls.

It is important to understand that human trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere and in any situation. In the United States, 83 percent of trafficking victims are American and 50 percent are children. The average age of a trafficking victim is 13. Few ever come forward for fear of retaliation, shame, or lack of understanding of what is happening to them.

Although the crisis of human trafficking has more recently made headlines, the problem has thrived in the shadows for many years. For too long, victims of human trafficking have been treated as criminals, facing jail time rather than receiving emergency shelter and the support they deserve.

Much like the domestic violence movement of the early 1980s, today’s push to raise awareness of human trafficking will initiate the social change needed to provide victims with the services they need to heal and return to society as productive citizens.

It is important for everyone to learn to recognize the signs of human trafficking to combat this horrific crime. Be aware of and report any activity that looks suspicious to you. Don’t assume it is not your business. Most of the traffickers in the March 2015 sting were operating in broad daylight in single­ family neighborhoods. In addition to a high volume of traffic at a residence, individual signs of human trafficking in a victim may include:

• Signs of physical, emotional, or psychological abuse.
• Fear, depression, or signs of Post­Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Malnourishment or exhaustion.
• Threats to self or family.
• Debt owed to employer.
• Signs of being controlled (someone speaking for them; escorting them to/from
work).
• Gaps in story.
• Tattoos/branding.

If you know of or suspect that someone is a victim of human trafficking or domestic violence, call The Shelter’s 24-­hour crisis hotline at 239­-775-­1101.

Fox 4 News

NBC 2 News
NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral

Fox 4 News – Naples, FL
By Karl Fortier

Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk announced the arrest of two men Sunday following a 6-month investigation into a human sex trafficking operation.

Gregory Alexander Hines, 34, and Keith Bernard Lewis, 58, were arrested on charges including human trafficking, racketeering and living off the earnings of prostitution.

Rambosk said the men placed ads on the web site Backpage.com, under the category “escort services.” He said that the investigation revealed that the men provided at least four victims with heroin and cocaine for performing sex acts on customers, and threatened them with violence if they didn’t comply.

“The drugs are provided to them, and then withdrawn to force the continued sex trafficking activity,” Rambosk said at a news conference on Monday. “Unfortunately and tragically, we see that much too often.”

Collier County Sheriff’s Office Detective Andy Henchesmoore said that Hines and Lewis kept the money their victims were paid for the prostitution, which took place in various hotels in Collier County.

“They kind of manipulate them by making them feel that they’re having to do their part to support the ‘family,'” Henchesmoore said.

Detectives found drugs and evidence of commercial sex activity when they searched two rooms at the Days Inn on Tollgate Boulevard, near Collier Boulevard and I-75. One victim appeared to be under the influence of a substance, and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Linda Oberhaus, Executive Director of the Shelter For Abused Women and Children in Naples, said that treating women who have been traumatized as victims of human sex trafficking can be a long process.

“To work with a victim of human trafficking, (to) get them all the way to the point where they testify in court…it can be very difficult,” she said.

Oberhaus adds that the public can help by reporting any situation you might see where someone appears to be controlled by another person.

Hines and Lewis are both in the Collier County Jail, each with a $1.8 million bond. Rambosk said that there may be other suspects arrested as a result of the investigation, and that other victims may be found.

NBC-2 News – Naples, FL

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office busted a trafficking ring where more than a dozen women were forced into a commercial sex operation.

CCSO said at least 16 women were held against their will by ringleaders Gregory Hines, 34, and Keith Lewis, 58, who posted ads under the category of “escort services” on Backpage.com and profited from customers.

They provided the victims with heroin and cocaine, deputies said, in exchange for performing sex acts on customers.

Hines and Lewis are being held on $1.8 million bonds.

Hines is charged with human trafficking, racketeering violation and living off the earnings of prostitution. Lewis is charged with racketeering, human trafficking, living off the earning of prostitution, possession of heroin, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.

They were located at a Walmart on Collier Boulevard and taken into custody Friday.

Following a six-month investigation, detectives executed a search warrant Saturday on two rooms rented in Lewis’ name at Days Inn & Suites, 3837 Tollgate Blvd., Naples. Drugs, drug paraphernalia and evidence of commercial sex activity were recovered.

Detectives also located a victim in one of the rooms they searched. She appeared to be under the influence of a substance and was fading in and out of consciousness. She was transported to an area hospital for medical treatment.

The investigation began in July after CCSO received information about a potential commercial sex operation involving Hines.

Deputies said Hines and Lewis used violence, threats of violence and withheld drugs if the victims did not comply with their demands. Lewis and Hines kept the money paid by customers and provided the victims with basic necessities, including food and clothing. The sex acts took place in various hotels in Collier County.

“Our main concern is the safety and wellbeing of someone being held against their will,” said Andy Henchesmoore of CCSO’s human trafficking unit. “Once they’re taken out, we have time to go back and look through evidence we’ve collected and try to find out who those people are.”

The sheriff’s office said it has located and facilitated treatment for four of the victims, but they’re still searching for 12 more.

Naples Daily News – Naples, FL
By Jessica Lipscomb

The woman in room 111 was fading in and out of consciousness.

Detectives believed the room at the Days Inn & Suites was being used for human trafficking. Their investigation had been ongoing for six months and was scheduled to continue when they got wind Friday that the woman was on the brink of a possible drug overdose. It was decided deputies would go to the East Naples hotel to try to save her.

As they entered the room with a master key from the front desk staff, they found the bed covered in crack pipes and a paper plate with white powder on top. The woman inside kept repeating herself as she came to.

“They are bad men,” she told detectives. “They kill people.”

The woman’s rescue was detailed in an arrest report for two men now accused of human trafficking. Detectives say the men, 34-year-old Gregory “Bow Legzz” Hines and 58-year-old Keith “Big Mike” Lewis, used drugs to coerce at least four women, and possibly a dozen more, to perform sexual acts for clients. The suspects used or threatened violence and withheld drugs from their victims if the women wouldn’t do as they said, according to investigators.

Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk announced the arrests in a news conference Monday, saying the investigation was ongoing and that investigators had identified additional suspects and victims.

“We are currently right now looking for the other victims and making contact with them,” Rambosk said. “Unfortunately, not all victims want to be rescued.”

The victim found in room 111 was hospitalized and is now stable, the sheriff said. Hines and Lewis were pulled over in a traffic stop at a nearby Walmart at 9985 Collier Blvd. S., where they were found with heroin, crack cocaine, morphine pills, multiple cellphones and more than $1,200 in cash, according to an arrest report.

Both men face charges of racketeering, human trafficking and living off the earnings of prostitution, while Lewis also faces additional drug possession charges. Each is being held on a $1.8 million bond.

The women were trafficked at hotels and private residences across the county, Rambosk said. Reports say the two suspects used an online classified site called Backpage to post ads for “escort services.” Detectives were able to verify ads that were posted by Hines because he used the same personal Gmail account he also used to sign up for a SmartJailMail account to communicate with Collier County inmates.

Rambosk said the four victims were adult women from Southwest Florida. One of them told detectives she had been roped in after she bought heroin from Hines at the hotel. Once Hines gave her the drugs, she said he forced her to engage in sexual acts with “his boy” and another man, both of whom are unidentified in reports.

At least two of the victims said they had overdosed three to four times on heroin provided by either Hines or Lewis.

Detective Andy Henchesmoore said most of the victims in human trafficking cases have histories of childhood sexual abuse that make them more vulnerable. Investigator Marisol Schloendorn said some don’t have families and grow to consider their pimps and the rest of the enterprise to be “their little family that they become accustomed to.”

Their propensity to become addicted to the drugs provided by their captors also makes getting them out of that lifestyle difficult, detectives say.

“They’re so dependent on the drugs that they’re on that that’s all they’re thinking about,” Henchesmoore said. “They’re not thinking outside their next fix.”

Although the investigation lasted six months, Henchesmoore said there were attempts to remove the women from the situation before Friday.

“Were we letting them stay in the hotel room and get victimized? No. We’ll try to approach them on the side and offer them a way out. But unless they’re willing to take it, we can’t kidnap somebody out of a situation,” he said. “So it’s a matter of us gaining enough of what we need to actually lock up the suspects so that the girls in this case feel safe enough and comfortable enough that they’re not going to get harmed talking to us.”

All of the victims have been offered services to get help, Henchesmoore said.

Rambosk encouraged other victims to come forward, saying that they wouldn’t get in trouble for drugs or other activities they have been coerced into.

“If they are in need of help, they need to call us and we will get them help first and foremost,” the sheriff said.

The Sheriff’s Office human trafficking unit can be reached at 239-252-0060. After hours, callers can contact dispatchers at 239-252-9300. All callers are asked to call 911 in an emergency or in the case that a crime is in progress.