
By: Detective, Tennessee
Well-meaning social media posts spread popular “stranger danger” myths with signs to look for and prevent random parking lot kidnappings. Meanwhile news stories often lead people to believe Human Trafficking is something that happens overseas, at the southwest border, or anywhere else besides a relatively quiet upper-class bedroom community in the heart of the Bible Belt. Like any other area across the world with hotels, a high-end suburban city in the Southeast has a dark underbelly that many cannot see. Spotlight has helped illuminate the issue, opening the eyes of police and public alike.

I am a local police detective and state Task Force Agent working in an upscale suburban city near the state’s capital. Here, crime is low, and the community partners with police to ensure a safe environment for people to raise their children. In 2016, I returned to my home agency after an eight-year assignment to a federal drug task force, and quickly stumbled into what would become the first Human Trafficking trial – and conviction – in the county’s history. And then the second. With the assistance of one of our state’s Human Trafficking experts and the dedication of a strong District Attorney’s Office, we not only got substantial convictions, but we also made favorable case law in our state. Unfortunately, both victims returned to the lifestyle, and I occasionally get alerts about one advertising in the Atlanta area. Both cases opened my eyes and heart to the fact that Human Trafficking isn’t about numbers or cases – it is about the survivors.
A Game-Changing Tool During Major Events
A couple of years later, our department teamed up with other local, state, and federal agents to conduct proactive operations during a major football draft event. Using Spotlight, we uncovered ads that led to the recovery of two juvenile victims who had been brought to our city for what they thought was an “outcall” appointment, as well as the arrest of their trafficker upon their arrival. Actionable intelligence from Spotlight led to subpoenaed evidence from sex advertising sites that helped secure a conviction against the juveniles’ female trafficker.
A Thanksgiving Recovery
Fast-forward to Thanksgiving 2022, when a seemingly random domestic violence call turned into the recovery of a 29-year-old victim who had been trafficked for almost two years across twenty states. The trafficker’s “bottom”* had been in the area for a short time and told him our area was very fruitful, so he traveled to collect money from her and brought along the victim for more profits. Thanks to a couple of alert gas station attendants who saw the trafficker assault the victim, our observant officers pulled over the suspect’s vehicle and immediately recognized signs of Human Trafficking. The victim was transported to a local hospital for injuries, leading her to tell me she had been a preschool teacher until her “boyfriend” trafficked her across the country using violence, threats, and mental control to generate income for him and his family, while keeping the victim from her children. Hundreds of ads uncovered by Spotlight, along with evidence from the victim’s and the suspect’s phones, corroborated the victim’s story of their travels across the US and identified other victims and traffickers.
While the trafficker was incarcerated awaiting trial, his “bottom”* prostituted herself around the country, depositing thousands of dollars in the trafficker’s jail commissary accounts and searching for the victim to prevent her from testifying. Spotlight’s alert function allowed me to track ads that led to the capture of the “bottom” for felony witness intimidation charges and helped prove the funds she intended to use to bond out the trafficker were from prostitution. The previously convicted trafficker and his “bottom” are currently awaiting trial. Meanwhile, the survivor has returned to a normal life and is thriving with her family, a college degree and a new career.
Mother’s Day Operation Unveils Multi-State Trafficking
On Mother’s Day this year, a fourteen-year-old girl called her mother from one of our hotels and said that her trafficker was in a local jail for out-of-state warrants. Thankfully the concerned mother called our agency to report her missing daughter. We recovered the missing teen from the hotel and reunited her with her family. The investigation quickly revealed it was more than a missing juvenile from another county – it was a multi-state child sex trafficking operation run by a man who had already spent time in a Florida prison for trafficking charges.
Spotlight was crucial in identifying dozens of ads featuring the victim across four states. We realized not only had she been trafficked by the jailed suspect, but also two of his female associates who posted separate ads for the victim, all of which were discovered using Spotlight. Our investigation is ongoing while the three defendants await trial on Class A felonies, because we are working diligently to positively identify the men who purchased this victim to also bring them to justice for their crimes.
A Victim-Centered Approach
Our proactive recovery investigations almost always start with Spotlight and center on using a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach to offer services from a recognized local non-government survivor support organization, instead of issuing low level prostitution citations for statistical purposes. We also partner with other local, state, and federal agencies in successful demand reduction operations to target purchasers.
Thanks to the assistance of our local hotels, our relationships with devoted prosecutors, the guidance and resources from the state’s Human Trafficking Task Force, and the immeasurable impact of Spotlight’s vast database, our small suburban police department is making significant community impacts in the fight against this near-invisible crime spree plaguing our country. We recognize that victims may not always be ready to step out of the darkness and into the tough journey of survivorship, but when they are, we will do our best to guide them into the thriving light of a better world.
“Bottom”: A female appointed by the trafficker to supervise the others and report rule violations. Operating as his “right hand,” the Bottom may help instruct victims, collect money, book hotel rooms, post ads, or inflict punishments on other girls. (Shared Hope)
Want to learn more about how online grooming and trafficking recruitment starts for youth? We've created an entire guide to walk you through how it starts and how you can be a part of finding kids faster.