Sex trafficking victims in Hawaii described “ cops asking for sexual favors to more coercive situations like I’ll let you go if you do X, Y, or Z for me.” In California, a police sergeant-a 16-year veteran of the police force-was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl who was being held captive and sold for sex in a home in an upscale neighborhood.Ī week-long sting in Florida ended with 277 arrests of individuals accused of sex trafficking, including doctors, pharmacists and police officers. Two of the cops, brothers, were charged with holding a bachelor party at one of the brothels where “they got the place for nothing and they used the prostitutes.” In New York, seven NYPD cops-three sergeants, two detectives and two officers-were accused of running brothels that sold 15-minute sexual encounters, raking in more than $2 million over the course of 13 months. In other words, as a recent study by the State Commission on the Status of Women and Arizona State University makes clear, “ victims are being exploited by the very people who are supposed to protect them: police officers.” In a number of cases, victims of sex trafficking report that police are among those “buying” young girls and women for sex. As the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, “ Hundreds of police officers across the country have turned from protectors to predators, using the power of their badge to extort sex.” In many cases, rather than being part of the solution, America’s police forces-riddled with corruption, brutality, sexual misconduct and drug abuse-have largely become part of the problem. We can no longer count on police to save us from the worst in our society. Indeed, while there are certainly many good cops in this country-and I’ve had the honor of working with a number of them-the bad cops have become symptomatic of a criminal justice system that is deeply rotten through and through. In too many instances, the cops are worse. While America’s children are being menaced by sexual predators, the Trump Administration and its congressional cohorts continue to wage endless wars, run up the national debt, and distract the populace with vitriol and kabuki political theater. I’ll tell you what the government is doing: little to nothing. Where are the police when these children- some as young as 9 years old-are being raped repeatedly?įor that matter, what is the Trump Administration doing about the fact that adults purchase children for sex at least 2.5 million times a year in suburbs, cities and towns across this nation?

That’s what readers wanted to know after my column went viral about the extent to which young children are being bought and sold for sex in America. How could this be happening right under our noses? Former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper “ Sexual predation by police officers happens far more often than people in the business are willing to admit.”

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