By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-935602.mp3
Dallas, TX – Texas ranks first or second in the nation for human trafficking. And the state's Attorney General says that's about to get worse, with the Super Bowl coming to Arlington. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more.
Attorney General Greg Abbott says Texas already sees 10 thousand human trafficking victims a year. He says February's Super Bowl - a magnet for prostitution & human trafficking - could bring another 10 thousand to Arlington just for that week.
Abbot: Human traffickers are relentless, they are undeterred and are growing in size and number.
He says the state must be equally relentless and undeterred. Abbott says traffickers target women and girls, threaten them & their families, then sell their services. A task force member cracked a case recently in Houston.
Abbott: The 16 year old girl testified that the defendant broke her nose and then moments later, with a broken nose, forced her to have sex with someone the sex trafficker had set her up with.
Abbott will send a dozen people from his office to help local law enforcers crack down on human traffickers. Officials will track suspicious magazine and online ads, for leads. They'll be at Super Bowl events. Abbott warns anyone trying to hire a prostitute isn't just breaking the law, but could also be an accomplice to a human trafficking enslavement crime.