Sex Trafficking of Children in Montgomery County Maryland
By Marirose Ungerman
The rise in child sex trafficking in Maryland has been quietly growing in our community. According to statistics, sex trafficking is now the second highest grossing criminal enterprise in the world. Child sex trafficking has attracted organized crime and gangs because criminals have discovered it is more profitable and less risky to sell children than drugs. The heads of the county police department’s vice and intelligence unit report that the bulk of the sex trafficking in Montgomery County is taking place on Silver Spring’s Georgia Avenue corridor, and along Interstate 270. Maryland is uniquely situated to be a “hot spot” for human trafficking.
With two metropolitan areas, three major airports, popular truck stops, and numerous interstates and then add the disposable income in Montgomery County, these factors allow sex traffickers to charge significantly higher rates than in other areas. These reasons are why victims and traffickers have told law enforcement that Maryland is “A goldmine” for sex and human trafficking.
In Maryland the crime of teen sex trafficking is getting worse, according to authorities “We have had trafficked victims from almost every high school in this county and many victims from middle school and some elementary schools.”
There are a lot of misconceptions about sex trafficking. Sex trafficking may include, but does not require, movement of the individual. A person may be trafficked out of his or her own bedroom. Victims of sex trafficking have many different faces. They may be foreign-born, domestic, minors or adults and they may be male, female, or transgender.
Traffickers also do not conform to the notion of a stereotypical pimp. A trafficker may be male or female, young or old. A trafficker could be a family member, an older boyfriend or girlfriend. Traffickers often control their victims through power and manipulation, and prey on the vulnerabilities of the victim.
Victims of sex trafficking are often found working in establishments that offer commercial sex acts. Such establishments may operate under the guise of massage parlors, escort services, modeling studios, and strip clubs.
There is no state immune from this disgraceful crime. Be an informed citizen and look around your community because these children are there and waiting to be rescued.