J.C. Holt is a retired law enforcement officer and PIO. Currently the Domestic Operations Director at O.U.R. (Operation Underground Railroad).
In his role, Holt heads up a team whose focus is on building relationships and support for all Domestic operations of O.U.R. with U.S. law enforcement agencies. As a primary example, O.U.R. provides funding for resources to law enforcement agencies across the United States to assist them in their efforts of investigating human trafficking and child exploitation and sex offense-oriented crimes. Some of these resources include computer hardware and software, training scholarships and Electronic Storage Detection K9’s. This greatly helps these agencies with budgetary shortfalls and empowers a model of helping our law enforcement officers across the country.
Holt and his team receive several reports each month from these law enforcement agencies they assist in highlighting their work in this space with the resources their group provides. Because O.U.R. works only as a supporting group with local law enforcement and is a private organization, his team works to provide continual education about what constitutes trafficking or exploitation, and when it is witnessed (or suspected), what community and family members can do for the most effective and immediate support possible, which he discusses in today’s Q&A interview.
O.U.R.’s stated mission is to stop sex trafficking of children. Can you talk to us about who and what that constitutes?
Holt: I can cite from the CDC that by their definition, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which victims are subjected to force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex, debt bondage, or involuntary labor. This is a good summary statement, I feel, and would also note that while O.U.R.’s specific focus is on ending the trafficking of children, the victims of trafficking can include young children, teens, men and women and the criteria for what to do when you see or suspect is similar or the same.
So, shouldn’t people be reporting any trafficking they see to O.U.R., immediately?
Holt: Many people do that, and we’re heartened they’re proactive, but because our role is to be a resource to law enforcement to support them as invited, the most helpful thing they can do is to report the issue directly to their local police departments. This is one of the reasons I participate in articles like this one and why we create so many informational videos on our YouTube channel that we people to as support for recognizing and supporting the problem in the best possible ways.
What are the signs to watch for in a trafficking situation?
Holt: According to the U.S. Dept. of State, the following are key red flags that may indicate a trafficking or exploitation situation that you should report:
- An underage employee living with employer
- Poor living conditions
- Multiple people in a cramped space
- Inability to speak to the individual alone
- Answers appear to be scripted and rehearsed
- The employer is holding identity documents
- Signs of physical abuse
- The individual is submissive or fearful
- Unpaid or paid very little
- The person is under 18 and participating in prostitution
How do you differentiate trafficking from exploitation?
Holt: The U.S. Dept. of State describes sexual exploitation as a person profiting from the use of another person’s body in a sexual manner in order to benefit (financially or otherwise). In general, the perpetrator of sexual exploitation takes advantage of their victim’s vulnerable or dependent state, including addictions to drugs or alcohol.
Although the forms of exploitation are continually changing, the Dept. of State says, the methods stay largely the same. An adult will target a child, trick them into trusting them, and then abuse their power for their own needs. This is known as ‘grooming’ and it is used for both criminal exploitation and sexual exploitation. For example, in the documentary O.U.R. recently produced, “It’s Happening Right Here,” the data shows reports of exploitation have doubled during the period of COVID lockdown, with much of the grooming occurring through online contact, such as social media and especially via online games that include chat functions, allowing perpetrators to feign interest and friendship and to groom prospective victims through assumed identities within the chat functions of online video games. As parents, we need to be more aware than ever before of the dangers posed in our own homes through smartphones and internet games.
But how can we be sure the police will take our reports seriously?
Holt: I spent 20 years in law enforcement, and while we have all witnessed corruption within some departments in the U.S. the idea that all police departments have corruption problems has not been my experience. In my opinion, this is not true.
If you call a member of the police and feel they have not taken your report seriously, call the person above that person. Call the Attorney General’s office for your county or state. Yes, there are impassioned people, and we may get 20-30 calls a week requesting that we report the situations for them or investigate the cases ourselves. We are not a law enforcement agency and as such don’t conduct criminal investigations in the US. While we’re willing to do anything we can to help, having us submit a report for them to an agency about suspected criminal activity is also not always helpful. The information is more meaningful and accurate when it comes from the person who witnessed or experienced the situation directly.
Do know, however, that law enforcement will be limited to some degree by their ability to determine the situation is happening through contact with the individual themselves. Shoring up a trafficked or exploited person with the courage to speak for themselves where possible will always help to speed a successful conclusion, in which the police can then call in the many support organizations such as O.U.R. and others can support and help after a child or youth has been extracted from an exploitation.
Yes, we may all have concerns about the model for the infrastructure we currently have – however, we must work within that model while we also work as a culture and society to improve it.
I saw a report in the news where a woman said the police dismissed her report, saying that traffickers are nearly always people who are known to the victim, and that being targeted by strangers or through the use of a “date rape” drug might “make for a Hollywood plot line” but is not the way traffickers really operate. What do you think of this?
Holt: it is accurate according to multiple studies and reports that the majority of perpetrators are known to the victim, and especially to a child victim. For example, a study from RAIN gives interesting statistics, such as confirming from surveys conducted from 2012 to approximately 2016 that of more than 1000 sexual violence incidents followed, 59% of perpetrators were acquaintances and 34% were family members, with only 7% being strangers.
In all, it appears that perpetrators are known to their victims as much as 70% of the time. However, this is far from true of all situations, especially when the aspects of contact via social media and internet gaming come into play. In our opinion it is important to make all families and communities aware of all these situations and statistics, and to not be dismissive of anyone’s report or claim without due investigation. Again, I would recommend that you do your research and escalate any situation you must to ensure the response to a situation you witness or experience is appropriate and accurate.
With the rising statistics and frightening situations we hear about, is there any good news? What are you most proud of in the work you are supporting domestically through O.U.R.?
Holt: The ability to equip so many U.S. agencies with software to detect and extract hidden digital assets is a bright star in the war against exploitation and trafficking. And in that realm, we’ve recently sponsored our 64th ESD K9. These dogs are great sources of locating digital storage devices these perpetrators often hide. As we speak to the officers in specific areas such as Colorado, for example, we’ve learned that police recently made 15 arrests that would have been missed with the help of the digital extraction software O.U.R. provided, and that 9 of those arrests were specifically made possible with the help of the K9 digital media sniffing dogs. This is hugely impactful, and we look forward to continuing and expanding these efforts for many seasons to come.
Readers with additional questions can visit the Operation Underground Railroad page on YouTube for additional resources and information and can reach out to O.U.R. via the info contact page at OURrescue.org.
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