The Human Trafficking Task Force in Lancaster County made 30 arrests in its first year. A segment of the people arrested were men who were seeking sex, including those who thought they were making arrangements to have sex with young girls as young as 13. But there were alleged traffickers charged with crimes too.

The incidents of human trafficking for sex or labor, but most often for sex, vary wildly from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. The states where trafficking occurs most often are California, Florida and New York.

But it happens everywhere, including here in south central Pennsylvania, as Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams explained on The SparkWednesday, "Really anywhere that you have these major highways and hotels next to these major highways, you're going to have an issue with human trafficking. And that's evidenced by the fact that, you know, we made 30 arrests this past year. Now, not all of them are specifically on the Title 18 crimes involving human trafficking. But what the arrests show is that there's a demand for these services here in Lancaster County. And so long as that demand exists, then the traffickers are going to fill that demand with victims. And sometimes and this does happen, it can be minors. So, it's so important that we have this task force and we're out there looking for this because people do need to understand that it does exist."

Adams indicated she was surprised at the results of the task force's first year,"I am still taken aback when I see that we arrested nine people in three separate investigations for specifically searching out a minor to engage in sexual activity. And that's shocking. But but it's there. So it was good to see that we're making these arrests. And we also made progress on two other goals of the task force and that it be victim centered. So we have some really trained victim advocates on board now that can help a victim when they are first rescued with services that they need. And we made some advancements to with training as well."

Adams was asked what the task force learned in their first year,"To be honest, it was a successful first year. And and, you know, I think we need to advocate for ourselves a little bit more. As far as, you know, any any time the state or federal agencies can have additional resources to provide us, that would be very valuable."

The Human Trafficking Task Force in Lancaster County made 30 arrests in its first year. A segment of the people arrested were men who were seeking sex, including those who thought they were making arrangements to have sex with young girls as young as 13. But there were alleged traffickers charged with crimes too.
The incidents of <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking">human trafficking</a> for sex or labor, but most often for sex, vary wildly from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. The states where trafficking occurs most often are California, Florida and New York.
But it happens everywhere, including here in south central Pennsylvania, as Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams explained on The Spark Wednesday, "Really anywhere that you have these major highways and hotels next to these major highways, you're going to have an issue with human trafficking. And that's evidenced by the fact that, you know, we made 30 arrests this past year. Now, not all of them are specifically on the Title 18 crimes involving human trafficking. But what the arrests show is that there's a demand for these services here in Lancaster County. And so long as that demand exists, then the traffickers are going to fill that demand with victims. And sometimes and this does happen, it can be minors. So, it's so important that we have this task force and we're out there looking for this because people do need to understand that it does exist."
Adams indicated she was surprised at the results of the task force's first year,"I am still taken aback when I see that we arrested nine people in three separate investigations for specifically searching out a minor to engage in sexual activity. And that's shocking. But but it's there. So it was good to see that we're making these arrests. And we also made progress on two other goals of the task force and that it be victim centered. So we have some really trained victim advocates on board now that can help a victim when they are first rescued with services that they need. And we made some advancements to with training as well."
Adams was asked what the task force learned in their first year,"To be honest, it was a successful first year. And and, you know, I think we need to advocate for ourselves a little bit more. As far as, you know, any any time the state or federal agencies can have additional resources to provide us, that would be very valuable."

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from <a href="https://www.witf.org">WITF</a>, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

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