Law enforcement partners reached out to our Latin American team: “there are places we can’t investigate without causing suspicion, but we know that kids are being trafficked there. Will you help us gather evidence of the exploitation?”
The Exodus Road went to work.
We discovered a sophisticated network of criminals trafficking kids ranging from 1-16 years old. The smallest children were forced to beg. Many of the middle school-aged kids were trafficked for labor, peddling products and drugs on the streets of an urban Latin American neighborhood. The teenagers were trafficked for sex, used and abused by both the crime bosses and paying clients.
We knew these kids couldn’t stay there a moment longer.
Hours of careful investigation gave law enforcement all the information they’d hoped for. They swept the area, finding the frightened kids huddled in small groups on street corners and in abandoned structures.
It will take a long time to trace each child’s place of origin, to find their parents and determine if it’s safe for them to go home. Some of the kids were far from their home countries. Fortunately, trusted aftercare partners have committed to the longterm process of healing and repatriation for these kids who have suffered myriad kinds of abuse.
Our team will continue to work to find other survivors of exploitation like these, going where others can’t or won’t go until all are free.
Thank you for sending us to free these kids!
