Career prosecutors have recommended against filing sex-trafficking charges against Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-gaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Gaetz</a> (R-FL).
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/23/gaetz-no-charges-sex-trafficking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Friday, citing anonymous sources &#8220;familiar with the matter,&#8221; that prosecutors informed their superiors they would not be pursuing charges against Gaetz, in connection with a sex-trafficking investigation that has been ongoing since 2020. The prosecutors said that securing a conviction in the case would be unlikely, in part because two central witnesses in the case have questionable credibility. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/23/politics/matt-gaetz-justice-department-probe/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/23/charges-unlikely-against-gaetz-in-federal-sex-trafficking-probe-00058617">Politico</a> confirmed the report, citing their own sources.
The first witness at issue was a young woman whom Gaetz allegedly paid for sex in violation of federal sex trafficking laws. According to The Washington Post, the woman was allegedly involved with Gaetz years ago, when she was 17 years old. Investigators were looking into whether he paid the girl for sex, a claim which Gaetz repeatedly denied. She was also present on a trip Gaetz allegedly took to the Bahamas in 2018, but she was already 18 years old or older by then, the Post reported.
The second witness is Joel Greenberg, a then-friend of Gaetz and a former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida. In 2020, Greenberg was investigated and charged with fabricating allegations and evidence to smear a political opponent, but prosecutors charged him with additional crimes, more than 30 in total. In exchange for his cooperation with investigators, he secured a plea bargain in which prosecutors dismissed 27 of the charges filed against him and recommended a reduced prison term.
Greenberg pleaded guilty to six criminal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud. During the investigation into Greenberg, prosecutors discovered evidence that potentially implicated Gaetz in sex trafficking; investigators sought to determine whether Greenberg paid women to have sex with Gaetz and whether the two shared sexual partners, including the 17-year-old girl.
Prosecutors said that Greenberg&#8217;s testimony would be spurious because he admitted to fabricating allegations against a political opponent; in a race for tax collector, Greenberg accused his opponent, a schoolteacher, of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, a strikingly similar allegation to that of Gaetz. Prosecutors also said that the woman&#8217;s testimony would not pass muster under jury scrutiny. While senior officials at the Department of Justice have not made a final decision on whether to file charges against Gaetz, the Post&#8217;s sources said that it is rare for them not to follow the advice of prosecutors. That could change as well if new evidence emerges, the sources said.
A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment, as did Gaetz&#8217;s lawyer. But a spokesman for Gaetz&#8217;s office did respond to news reports. &#8220;Those who told lies about Rep. Matt Gaetz are going to prison, and Rep. Matt Gaetz is going back to Congress to continue fighting for America,&#8221; the spokesman told CNN.
Gaetz did not comment personally, but on his <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">personal Twitter account</a>, he retweeted a tweet from journalist and podcaster Tim Pool calling the investigation &#8220;an extortion scheme against Matt Gaetz&#8217;s family.&#8221;
Gaetz announced in an interview with Axios that he was under federal investigation in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-rep-matt-gaetz-says-doj-investigating-him-for-sexual-misconduct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 2021</a>, as The Daily Wire reported at the time. “The allegations against me are as searing as they are false,” Gaetz said. “I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy.”

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles – July 14, 2021

Prosecutors Likely Won’t Charge Rep. Matt Gaetz In Sex Trafficking Investigation: Report

Prosecutors Recommend Against Charging Rep. Matt Gaetz In 2020 Sex Trafficking Investigation

Department of Justice

Florida

House Republicans

Matt Gaetz

Sex Trafficking

Washington Post

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Florida</a> sheriff said that his department “always” caught <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/disney" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Disney</a> employees during undercover operations, while revealing the results of a week-long investigation into human trafficking. 
The large investigation, known as “Fall Haul 2,” was spearheaded by the Polk County Police Department and involved a week-long sting operation in central Florida that netted over 150 arrests.  
“Our goal is to identify victims, offer them help, and arrest those who are fueling the exploitation of human beings (Johns) and those profiting from the exploitation of human beings. Prostitution is not a victimless crime – it results in exploitation, disease, dysfunction, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and broken families,” Sheriff Grady Judd <a href="https://www.polksheriff.org/news-investigations/polk-county-news/2022/09/09/polk-county-sheriff-s-office-arrests-160-during-seven-day-human-trafficking-enforcement-operation-operation-fall-haul-2">said</a> in a statement. 
People from Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New York, California, North Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arizona were all arrested during the undercover operation. Notable arrests included a Disney bellhop, a Georgia police deputy chief, and a high school physical education teacher.
The Disney employee, 57-year-old Guillermo Perez, was arrested for soliciting a prostitute. Perez is a bellhop for Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. While showing Perez’s photo while at the press conference, Judd suggested he was not surprised to have arrested a Disney employee. 
“Now, where would we be with an undercover operation and no Disney employees?” he said. “Oh yes, we always have Disney employees.”
Also arrested was an independent photographer who the sheriff’s department said is occasionally &#8220;contracted by Disney.&#8221; 
Jason DiPrima, the former deputy chief of administration for the Cartersville Police Department in Georgia, was arrested as well for soliciting a prostitute. DiPrima, who has since resigned from his position, allegedly gave an undercover detective $180 and a pack of White Claw, according to the sheriff. 
“He did a mean, nasty thing to his family,” Judd <a href="https://www.wfla.com/news/polk-county/disney-worker-teachers-among-160-arrested-in-polk-county-human-trafficking-investigation-sheriff/">said</a>. 
A correctional officer at Lake County Correctional Facility was  also detained and will now be “in the jail as a jailbird like those jailbirds he watches,” the sheriff said. 
Several school employees were also arrested during the sting. Twenty-six-year-old P.E. teacher John Layton was arrested for soliciting a prostitute and received a terse response from the sheriff when he said that he had track practice in the morning. 
“No, the students have track practice in the morning; you have jail practice in the morning,” Judd stated. 
One former teacher, 41-year-old Cameron Burke, who was out on bond, was also caught up in the investigation. Burke had been facing charges related to accusations that he had been having sex with a 15-year-old student. Judd said that Burke was emotional, but got little sympathy from the sheriff. 
“Dude, why didn’t you think of that ahead of time?” he said. “Of course, you only have three brain cells.”
Drugs were also seized during the seven-day investigation.
Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/introducing-dw-kids">kids entertainment content</a>.

Flashing Lights on Police Car

‘We Always Have Disney Employees’: Florida Sheriff Reveals Results Of Human Trafficking Investigation

Florida Police Arrest Over 150, Including Disney Employee, In Human Trafficking Investigation

Human Trafficking

Police

It almost goes without saying that the Internet has enabled pornography to flourish. But when pornography is in demand, fueled by pornography tube sites’ lust for profit, there’s a strong likelihood that those in front of the camera did not consent to being there. 
 
Case in point: In January 2020, 22 sex trafficking survivors were awarded $12.7 million after a civil lawsuit against the GirlsDoPorn company was decided in their favor. The young women were groomed by GirlsDoPorn under false pretenses, trapped in hotel rooms, manipulated and threatened into signing contracts and making pornographic videos. They were lied to about how the videos would be distributed. The GirlsDoPorn company uploaded the exploitative videos to Pornhub, which monetized them, profiting from their victimization. Over 40 Girls Do Porn survivors filed a lawsuit against Pornhub for its role in further exploiting them by refusing to remove their coerced videos.
Outrageously, Pornhub continued to host and promote GirlsDoPorn and its material on its platform throughout the plaintiffs’ civil lawsuit and all the way up until federal criminal charges were formally filed against GirlsDoPorn’s operators.
Pornhub posted these illicit videos on its “verified accounts” platform, which the company asserts is “safer,” but this is the extreme opposite of “safe.” Pornhub’s actions show that there has been a merger between illicit sex trafficking and online pornography. 
 
Unfortunately, this is not the only time sex trafficking has occurred on pornography sites. 
 
MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub, has allowed filmed child sexual abuse, rape, sex trafficking, and other non-consensual explicit material on its websites. In fact, there are a growing number of lawsuits that have been filed on behalf of sex trafficking survivors whose abuse has been shown on Pornhub. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html">The New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/20/the-fight-to-hold-pornhub-accountable">The New Yorker</a>, and the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-51391981">BBC</a> have also revealed evidence of Pornhub’s criminality.
In <a href="https://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/Doe-v.-MindGeek_Complaint.pdf">one of these lawsuits</a>, two survivors of child sex trafficking are suing Pornhub because videos and images of their sexual abuse were posted on Pornhub and other MindGeek-owned sites. 
 
Plaintiff Jane Doe #1 was just 16 years old when she was drugged and raped by a man in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and this abuse was filmed. The same man entered into an agreement with MindGeek to share profits from views and downloads of her victimization on MindGeek’s websites. MindGeek reviewed, categorized, tagged, and disseminated the images and videos depicting the rape and sexual exploitation of Jane Doe #1. At no time did MindGeek or Pornhub attempt to verify her identity, age, inquire about her status as a victim of sex trafficking, or otherwise protect or warn against her traffickers.
The second plaintiff, Jane Doe #2, was still a minor when a sex trafficker forced her to participate in the creation of sexually explicit videos. These videos of Jane Doe #2’s abuse were uploaded and disseminated through websites owned, operated, and/or controlled by MindGeek. Neither Pornhub, nor any other website owned or operated by MindGeek took any measure to verify Jane Doe #2’s identity or age. As a result, her child sex abuse material was distributed broadly throughout the world on MindGeek’s platforms. 
 
As long as pornography tube sites do not have to ensure that all who are depicted in explicit material have truly consented to participate and are adults, more criminality will happen. There are currently no such regulations for pornography tube sites and thousands of victims are powerless in removing recordings of their abuse while Pornhub and other websites make millions of dollars from their trauma.
Recent research has shown that <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjc/azab035/6208896">1 in 8 (12%) of the video titles</a> on the largest mainstream pornography sites in the U.K. (Pornhub, XVideos, and Xhamster) described activities that constitute sexual violence. Much of the material described likely depicted evidence of real sexual assaults and non-consensual distribution of sexually explicit material.
Pornography websites exploded during the COVID pandemic, including a newer one: OnlyFans.
OnlyFans is set up as a potential “pyramid scheme” incentivizing “creators” to recruit new users – resulting in a flood on social media of false promises of fast cash and fame. Sex buyers and pimps maximize buying and selling people behind the security of a paywall. Yet survivors, whistleblowers, police, and investigative journalists have uncovered child sexual abuse material, sex trafficking, rape videos, and a host of other crimes. Those are several reasons why we named OnlyFans to our <a href="https://endsexualexploitation.org/onlyfans/">2022 Dirty Dozen List</a>. 
 
Because OnlyFans is so heavily publicized on social media, police have used open-source data from social media to note sex trafficking indicators. A <a href="https://theaverycenter.org/research/onlyfans/">research collaboration</a> project between Human Trafficking Detective Joseph Scaramucci and The Avery Center for Research and Services took this approach, analyzing public Instagram accounts which had OnlyFans links in their bios. Of these accounts, 36% were classified as “likely third-party controlled.” Detective Scaramucci <a href="https://news4sanantonio.com/news/trouble-shooters/investigators-say-onlyfans-is-being-used-by-traffickers-to-lure-victims-and-buyers">says</a> there are specific indicators that the women in some of the pictures may be victims coerced by sex traffickers even when the pornographic images seem consensual to the casual observer.
The pornography industry is a predatory and exploitative business and dehumanizes those who are used to make it. The industry’s rise is built upon serving the demand for pornography and it will force, coerce, and deceive people to accomplish that goal, leaving a wake of victims in its path.
Many who are in front of the camera did not consent to be there. Those who consume pornography must reconsider their role in fueling this epidemic of child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and other illegal material on pornography sites.
Dawn Hawkins is the CEO of the <a href="http://www.endsexualexploitation.org/">National Center on Sexual Exploitation</a>, the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography. Twitter: @NCOSE
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Readers Pass – Oliver – How the pornography industry is intertwined with sex trafficking16x9 (1)

As Lawsuits Pile Up, Porn Industry Faces Day Of Reckoning Over Accusations Of Sex Trafficking

Lawsuit

minors

Pornography

Readers Pass

An adult website operator pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a San Diego federal court to a sex trafficking conspiracy that fraudulently forced and coerced women into pornography videos published on two separate websites, GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys.
Matthew Isaac Wolfe, 40, admitted that he played a vital role in persuading at least 15 women into pornography by claiming the videos would never reach audiences in the United States or online while knowing the recordings were exclusively marketed and distributed on the internet.
&#8220;Wolfe lied to and preyed on vulnerable young women, subjecting them to years of relentless harassment, fear, and mental anguish,&#8221; Stacey Moy, special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/girlsdoporn-operator-pleads-guilty-sex-trafficking-conspiracy">said</a>.
Authorities also named four co-defendants in the alleged conspiracy: Ruben Andre Garcia, 33, Valorie Moser, 39, Theodore Wilfred Gyi, 44, and GirlsDoPorn owner, 39-year-old Michael James Pratt.
Wolfe admitted in 2011 that he moved to the United States to work for Pratt, where he would eventually perform various responsibilities until authorities arrested him in 2019. Such tasks allegedly included promoting the business, overseeing the company financials, and uploading the videos onto the internet — approximately 100 of which he filmed — until training co-defendant Theodore Gyi as a cameraman and producer.
Wolfe also admitted that Pratt allegedly controlled pornwikileaks.com, a website exposing individuals&#8217; identities in sex videos, and shared the victims&#8217; personal information and social media accounts.
The San Diego Union-Tribune <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2022-07-26/girlsdoporn-operator-admits-business-built-on-a-sex-trafficking-conspiracy?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">reports</a> a federal grand jury indicted Wolfe three years ago while he and others were facing a lawsuit filed by 22 female victims in San Deigo Superior Court. Wolfe and the others would allegedly recruit women as &#8220;models,” who would then be pressured into having sex on camera in various locations like hotel rooms and short-term rentals. Victims testified that they were given alcohol and marijuana before signing a contract, raped, and threatened if they asked to stop.
The videos were published on GirlsDoPorn and other websites despite the women, one of whom was a minor at the time, believing it was for a DVD collection overseas.
The case would eventually end in a $12.7 million judgment against Wolfe, Pratt, and adult performer Ruben Andre Garcia.
&#8220;This crime had a devastating impact on the victims,&#8221; U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said.
Wolfe faces a maximum penalty of up to life in prison, while Moser and Gyi, who also pleaded guilty to similar charges, await their sentencing.
Garcia received 20 years after pleading guilty to a sex trafficking conspiracy to a U.S. District Judge in June 2021.
However, Pratt, who authorities have charged with producing child pornography and sex trafficking a minor by force, fraud, or coercion and faces 15 years in prison, is still at large.
Authorities believe Pratt, a New Zealand citizen, fled the country during the civil trial and has ties to multiple countries with &#8220;financial means to be anywhere around the world.&#8221;
&#8220;We know there are people that are helping Pratt,&#8221; William McNamara, a San Diego FBI spokesperson Special Agent, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Authorities listed Pratt as a fugitive and have offered up to $50,000 in reward money for information leading to his arrest.

A prisoner behind bars with hands cuffed

Porn Website Operator Pleads Guilty To Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

Crime

San Diego

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a> confidant <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ghislaine-maxwell">Ghislaine Maxwell</a> has been moved to a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, has been relocated to the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) Tallahassee by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), The Daily Mail first <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11044677/Ghislaine-Maxwell-moved-prison-Florida-life-luxury-Epsteins-Palm-Beach-mansion.html">reported</a>.
In December 2021, Maxwell was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epsteins-former-girlfriend-found-guilty-in-sex-abuse-trial">found guilty</a> on five of six federal charges in relation to her dealings with Epstein, including conspiracy to entice and transport individuals under 17 to travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in &#8220;illegal sexual activity.&#8221;
During her trial, the public learned more about how Epstein and Maxwell would prey on the girls they abused.
One of Maxwell’s accusers, a woman testifying under the pseudonym &#8220;Jane,&#8221; testified that Epstein and Maxwell abused her together when she was just 14 years old. Maxwell took her on shopping trips, asked her about her life, and discussed sexual topics with her, &#8220;Jane&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epsteins-former-girlfriend-found-guilty-in-sex-abuse-trial">said</a>.
Maxwell&#8217;s attorneys requested that she serve her jail time in Danbury, Connecticut. Federal Judge Alison Nathan recommended that location, but BOP denied the request.
The Tallahassee prison is an all-female institution with a wide variety of recreational activities that Maxwell will be allowed to participate in while serving her time.
The Daily Mail noted that Maxwell would have access to events like yoga, pilates, weights, softball, flag football, and frisbee. The British outlet indicated that she could also partake in a prison talent show.
Likewise, Maxwell can enter into apprenticeship programs to learn skills related to several vocations if she so desires.
Maxwell is now 60 years old and has been kept in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In June, Maxwell&#8217;s lawyers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inmate-in-same-prison-housing-unit-as-ghislaine-maxwell-was-offered-money-to-murder-her-attorneys-say">alleged</a> in court documents that another inmate in the same prison housing unit as Maxwell was offered money to murder her.
The explosive claim was revealed in a report from The New York Times. The lawyers said that following her conviction, Maxwell was moved to the prison’s general population and became a “target of a credible death threat from a fellow inmate.”
“A prisoner in Ms. Maxwell’s housing unit told at least three other inmates that she had been offered money to murder Ms. Maxwell and that she planned to strangle Ms. Maxwell in her sleep, the lawyers wrote,” the Times noted. “The inmate who made the threat was moved to a different unit, ‘presumably to protect Ms. Maxwell,'&#8221; the lawyers said.
&nbsp;

JeffreyEpsteinMaxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved To Low-Security Florida Prison

Child Sex Abuse

Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein

Prison

Executors of convicted sex offender <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a>’s estate have been accused by authorities of funneling about $13 million of the disgraced financier’s money to a trust that could lead to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/corruption">payouts</a> for the two men.
According to authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, both executors of Epstein’s estate, could receive payouts linked to the Butterfly Trust, an investment tool set up almost ten years ago by the accused sex trafficker.
“The government discovered that substantial funds kept secret from the government were transferred for the benefit of the coexecutors in an apparent effort to enrich themselves and shelter these assets from recovery,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/business/jeffrey-epstein-estate-assets.html">said</a> a filing from the attorney general for the Virgin Islands Denise George.
Almost a year after Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell and authorities ruled his death a suicide, $13 million was transferred to the Butterfly Trust in April 2020.
This transfer came after one Epstein investment was liquidated, and then some of it was transferred to other holdings from the Butterfly Trust, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/business/jeffrey-epstein-estate-assets.html">according</a> to The New York Times. Two of the entities that were transferred money were tied to the executors.
Epstein estate lawyer Daniel Weiner denied that the allegations against Indyke and Kahn were true and that both “categorically reject the baseless assertions of wrongdoing made against them.”
“The 2013 Butterfly Trust mentioned in today’s filing by Ms. George has nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Epstein’s estate or any funds available to it,” he said.
New York bank regulators have stated that Epstein utilized the Butterfly Trust to pay individuals linked to his grooming of young girls for sexual abuse.
Litigation brought by authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands has been ongoing against Epstein’s estate for several years as litigators claimed Epstein unfairly benefited from tax benefits. The deceased financier owned two islands there, one of them known as the so-called “pedophile island.”
The new filing against Indyke and Kahn comes almost a month after longtime Epstein companion Ghislaine Maxwell was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-epstein-sex-trafficker-ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced">sentenced</a> to 20 years in prison after being convicted on multiple conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
The sentencing comes two years after Maxwell, 60, was arrested at her secretive million-dollar home in New Hampshire and was brought to New York to face justice. She has been in federal custody ever since because she was denied bail.
Maxwell was convicted in December of conspiring with Epstein to recruit, groom, and sexually abuse young girls.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.

Patrick McMullan Archives

Jeffrey Epstein Executors Accused Of Funneling Millions For Personal Benefit

Corruption

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Friday that reversed the loitering law police used to crack down on human trafficking and prostitution in the Golden State.
Authored by San Francisco&#8217;s Democrat Sen. Scott Wiener, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB357">SB 357</a> repeals a law that criminalized &#8220;loitering with the intent to engage in prostitution.&#8221; He says the law gave law enforcement a subjective perception of whether a person is &#8220;acting like&#8221; or &#8220;looks like&#8221; they engage in prostitution—especially transgender, black, and brown women. However, Weiner says revoking the law would not decriminalize soliciting or engaging in prostitution.
But opposers of the bill — on and off the Senate floor — all conclude taking away authority to investigate such loitering cases creates an easier environment for traffickers, pimps, and prostitution.
Former Los Angeles Police Department vice sergeant Stephany Powell, who has since become the director of law enforcement training and survivor services at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said the bill would severely limit law enforcement&#8217;s ability to identify victims of human trafficking — including minors.
&#8220;Many officers rely on the loitering laws to initiate trafficking investigations that have led to serious convictions for traffickers and pimps,&#8221; Powell said in a <a href="https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/if-california-governor-signs-loitering-bill-into-law-sex-trafficking-will-inevitably-rise/">statement</a>. &#8220;SB 357 assumes that loitering laws are used to merely harass marginalized people, and by repealing them, these people will experience less discrimination from police. In reality, repealing loitering laws will only cause further harm to communities with existing poverty and high crime.&#8221;
CBS reported The Los Angeles County Sheriff&#8217;s Department and the 75,000-member Peace Officers Research Association of California also objected to the bill as it would make confronting those who commit prostitution-related crimes more difficult and Powell said in a tweet on Saturday that the &#8220;California bear has a tear in his eye&#8221; the day after Newsom signed the legislation.
&#8220;The Black community will be a free place for sex buyers (solicitation) and traffickers (procurement) to loiter and roam,&#8221; she <a href="https://twitter.com/stephany_dr">said</a>.
Victims of human trafficking and advocates to end modern-day slavery who opposed the bill spoke out against it at a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiiaDO21Rcc">press conference</a> just before it passed through the Assembly and Senate last year.
Vanessa Russel, founder of Love Never Fails, a San Francisco-based anti-sex trafficking organization, said instead of providing help to survivors, the bill hurts them and causes the demand to increase.
Survivor Hannah Diaz, who joined Russel last year at an event opposing the bill, said &#8220;fatalities will increase&#8221; without the intervention allowed by law enforcement.
&#8220;With trauma-informed training and identification tactics, Diaz said. &#8220;Officers are an invaluable asset to the war against human trafficking.&#8221;
Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) said law enforcement works with anti-trafficking non-profits to rescue sex-trafficked minors and women.
&#8220;When we separate the victim on the street with the pimp down the block and around the corner,&#8221; Patterson said according to <a href="https://www.californiafamily.org/2021/09/prostitution-bill-passes-but-held-in-senate-over-doubts-raised-in-passionate-debate-on-assembly-floor/">California Family Council</a>. &#8220;They are not going to jail; they are going to a safe house. They are going to a place that cares for them.&#8221;
Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) said the bill further endangers women and girls.
&#8220;We often vote on very well-intentioned legislation that has unintended consequences,&#8221; Petrie-Norris said. &#8220;For me, the unintended consequence is making it more difficult to protect victims of child trafficking, even if that is a possibility.&#8221;
Yet Weiner&#8217;s supporters of the bill — like ACLUE California Action and Equality California and Democrats lawmakers — believe reversing the legislation takes away law enforcement authority to harass minority women, the transgender community, or individuals who look or dress like prostitutes.
Gov. Newsom stated during his signing of the bill, The Sacramento Bee <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article263034468.html">reported</a>, that his administration would monitor crime and prosecution trends for any possible unintended consequences and would act to mitigate such impacts.
&#8220;To be clear, this bill does not legalize prostitution. It simply revokes provisions of the law that have led to disproportionate harassment of women and transgendered adults,&#8221; he said. &#8220;While I agree with the author&#8217;s intent and I am signing this legislation, we must be cautious about its implementation.&#8221;
California has implemented several loitering laws in recent years. In 2016, the state passed a law that would treat minors involved in prostitution as victims instead of criminals. In addition, a 2019 bill bans arresting prostitutes who report various crimes as victims or witnesses.

LAPD’s Vice Squad

Gov. Newsom Signs Off On Reversing Loitering Law Police Used To Crack Down On Human Trafficking And Prostitution

Loitering Law Police Used To Crack Down Human Trafficking And Prostitution Reversed By Newsom

California

Gavin Newsom

Prostitution

Disgraced R&amp;B singer R. Kelly was reportedly placed on <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/01/us/r-kelly-suicide-watch-sentencing/index.html?utm_term=link&amp;utm_content=2022-07-01T17%3A16%3A53&amp;utm_source=twcnnbrk&amp;utm_medium=social">suicide watch</a> on Friday in a New York federal detention facility — despite claims from attorney Jennifer Bonjean that he is not actually suicidal.
Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/r-kelly-facing-up-to-25-years-in-prison-for-decades-of-crime-that-were-fueled-by-narcissism/">convicted</a> in September of 2021 on nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering — and <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/breaking-r-kelly-sentenced-to-30-years-in-prison-following-sex-trafficking-conviction/">was sentenced</a> on Wednesday to 30 years in prison.
Within one day of his <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2022/06/29/r-kelly-sentenced-30-years-federal-sex-crime-case/?adid=social-twa">sentencing</a>, however, Kelly had reportedly been placed on suicide watch — primarily because of his fame.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch at the federal detention facility in New York where he is being held after he was sentenced this week to 30 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, his lawyer said Friday. <a href="https://t.co/LuqOOokShm">https://t.co/LuqOOokShm</a>
&mdash; CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1542920190811410435?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bonjean told CNN that she did not believe that Kelly was suicidal and she thought that had actually been afraid of being put on suicide watch. &#8220;The irony of putting someone on suicide watch when they&#8217;re not suicidal is it actually causes more harm,&#8221; she said, explaining that prison officials had told prosecutors that they were placing the performer on suicide watch because he was so well known.
&#8220;It&#8217;s punishment for being high-profile. And it&#8217;s horrifying frankly. To put someone under suicide watch under those conditions is cruel and unusual when they don&#8217;t need it,&#8221; Bonjean added, noting also that she had asked her client to email her from the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn once he returned from his sentencing hearing but he had failed to do so.
Kelly&#8217;s conviction came after a five-week trial that heard testimony from dozens of witnesses — some of whom said that they had been sexually physically abused by the singer and some who testified that they had assisted in arranging his 1994 marriage to the late singer Aaliyah, who was just 15 years old at the time. Kelly was 12 years her senior.
Kelly&#8217;s attorneys brought forth a number of associates who testified that they had never seen him abuse anyone. The singer himself never took the stand.
Kelly is set to face a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/29/nyregion/r-kelly-chicago-trial-august.html">second federal trial</a> in Chicago this August, on charges including luring children to perform sex acts and producing child pornography. He was previously tried over a decade ago — on multiple child pornography charges in Illinois in 2008 — but he was acquitted.
He is also facing a number of state charges in Illinois as well as accusations of prostitution with a minor in Minnesota.
Prior to sentencing in his New York federal trial, Kelly&#8217;s attorneys asked for a sentence of less than 10 years. The prosecution recommended no less than 25 years.
&nbsp;

Trial date for R. Kelly in Brooklyn pushed back to July

R. Kelly Is Not Suicidal — Here’s Why He Landed On Suicide Watch In Prison Anyway

R. Kelly Place On Suicide Watch Despite Not Being Suicidal

Music

Music Industry

Sex Crimes

Suicide

Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maxwells-epstein-friendship-may-have-been-a-mistake-but-it-was-not-a-crime-her-defense-says-in-closing-arguments">former girlfriend</a> and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maxwell-caused-deep-and-lasting-harm-to-young-girls-prosecution-says-in-closing-arguments">Maxwell</a> was sentenced to prison on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan sentenced Maxwell to 20 years in prison and imposed a $750,000 fine.
&#8220;A sentence of 240 months is sufficient and no graver than necessary,” the judge stated, saying that Maxwell&#8217;s criminal activity was &#8220;extensive.&#8221;
Prosecutors had hoped for a sentence of at least 30 years, while Maxwell&#8217;s defense had hoped for just four or five years in prison for their client. If her sentence is shortened for good behavior, Maxwell could be released from prison in her late 70s.
Maxwell was found guilty by a jury in December on five of six <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-maxwell-257">counts</a>, including sex trafficking of an individual under 18 and transportation of an individual under 17 with intent to engage in “illegal sexual activity,” along with three conspiracy charges. She pled not guilty to all counts.
The former international socialite was a close confidant of Epstein for decades and managed his Florida estate. The two were frequently seen cavorting with billionaires, presidents, and members of the British royal family before they were disgraced. Maxwell remained the well-connected investment manager’s companion for decades even after their nebulous romantic relationship appeared to fizzle in the late 1990s.
Epstein was found dead at 66 in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 before the well-connected and wealthy financier could go on trial for his alleged decades of grooming and sexual abuse, including rape, of young girls in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The lurid details of his alleged sex ring include accusations that he procured underage girls for prominent men on his private island in the Virgin Islands, Little St. James.
Maxwell was arrested on July 2, 2020, when federal investigators discovered her hiding out in a New Hampshire mansion after virtually disappearing following Epstein’s death. She was held in a Brooklyn jail without bail because the judge deemed her a flight risk.
Between 1994 and 1997, Maxwell, “assisted, facilitated, and contributed” to Epstein’s abuse of minor girls even though she and Epstein both knew their victims, one of whom was just 14, were underage, according to the indictment against her.
Her trial in Manhattan federal court began in November.
The prosecution in Maxwell&#8217;s trial painted a picture of a pair of fully-grown adults, Maxwell and Epstein, who were “partners in crime” and had a “playbook” for targeting minors and sexually abusing them.
“Ghislaine Maxwell was dangerous. She was a grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said in closing arguments.
The defense attempted to cast doubt on the credibility of Maxwell’s accusers, saying the women have “contaminated” memories. The defense also tried to assign selfish motives to nearly all the government’s witnesses, saying the women are motivated by money in going after Maxwell decades after the alleged abuse occurred.
Over the course of the trial, the jury heard from four of Maxwell’s accusers, several former Epstein employees, a psychologist specializing in sexual abuse, and a memory expert that Maxwell’s defense called, among others.
One of Maxwell’s accusers, a woman testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” testified that Epstein and Maxwell abused her together when she was just 14 years old. Maxwell took her on shopping trips, asked her about her life, and discussed sexual topics with her, “Jane” said.
Three other women who say they were groomed or abused by Maxwell also testified. One woman, Annie Farmer, who testified under her full name, said Maxwell massaged her naked breasts when she was 16.
Dozens of other women have also accused Epstein of grooming and sexual abusing them when they were minors.
Another prominent accuser, Virginia Giuffre, accused Maxwell of grooming her for Epstein’s abuse when she was a 16-year-old spa attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach (Trump reportedly later <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/510604-book-claims-trump-barred-epstein-from-mar-a-lago-after-financier-hit">banned</a> Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 for harassing another member’s teenage daughter). Giuffre said the sexual abuse she suffered included lessons on Epstein’s oral sex preferences. Maxwell accused her of “obvious lies,” and Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation.
During a deposition in that case, Maxwell claimed she had never given Epstein or anyone else a massage, a claim prosecutors said was a lie. Prosecutors also said she lied about whether she knew Epstein had sex toys and whether she knew that he engaged in sexual activity with anyone other than herself and two other women.
The sex trafficking trial that ended in December prompted speculation that incriminating information could potentially come to light about some of the high-profile names connected to Epstein, such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Bobby Kennedy Jr., and former Sen. George Mitchell. However, the trial revealed little new information about Epstein’s circle of friends.
Initially, Maxwell vehemently maintained her innocence, even blurting out at a pre-trial conference, “I have not committed any crime.”
On Tuesday, Maxwell struck a more subdued tone when she addressed the court before her sentencing.
&#8220;The terrible impact on the lives of so many women is difficult to hear and even more difficult to absorb, both in its scale and in its extent,&#8221; Maxwell said.
However, she placed the blame squarely on Epstein, implying that she too was manipulated by him.
“I believe that Jeffrey Epstein was a manipulative, cunning and controlling man who lived a profoundly compartmentalized life and fooled all of those in his orbit,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell (1)

Jeffrey Epstein’s Ex-Girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To Prison

Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To Prison

Bill Clinton

Bill Gates

Donald Trump

Sexual Abuse

Ghislaine Maxwell, longtime companion of child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, was sentenced on Tuesday to 20 years in prison after being convicted on multiple conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
The sentencing comes two years after Maxwell, 60, was arrested at her secretive million-dollar home in New Hampshire and was brought to New York to face justice. She has been in federal custody ever since because she was denied bail.
Maxwell was convicted in December of conspiring with Epstein to recruit, groom, and sexually abuse young girls. She was convicted of &#8220;sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy,&#8221; CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/28/us/ghislaine-maxwell-sentencing/index.html">reported</a>.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/06/28/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-news-epstein">noted</a> that Maxwell&#8217;s lawyers tried to cast her as a victim in the case, claiming that the U.S. government only went after her following Epstein&#8217;s death in prison. Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/ghislaine-maxwell-be-sentenced-sex-trafficking-conviction-2022-06-28/">added</a> that in her sentencing memo, &#8220;Maxwell argued for leniency, saying she and her siblings had been mentally and physically abused as children by their father, British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell.&#8221;
“There would be no trial for Epstein and no public vindication and justice for his accusers,” the lawyers wrote. “The government now had a huge hole to fill: Epstein’s empty chair.”
The office of Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, slammed the attempts from Maxwell and her team to try to shift blame for her actions.
Prosecutors said that her attempt “to cast aspersions on the government for prosecuting her, and her claim that she is being held responsible for Epstein’s crimes, are both absurd and offensive.”
“Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can,” the prosecutors added.
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

US-Britain-crime-justice-Epstein-Maxwell-assault

Epstein Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell Learns How Many Years She Will Spend In Prison

Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pornhub">Pornhub</a>-owner MindGeek denied allegations from a non-profit organization that exposes sexual exploitation claiming more than half of its employees were likely laid off following the resignation of two of the company’s top executives on the same day.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that MindGeek said Chief Executive Officer Feras Antoon and Chief Operating Officer David Tassillo resigned after more than a decade of running the adult website company, adding that despite both departures being planned earlier this year, the former executives will remain shareholders of the company.
However, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the non-profit that made the allegations, said in a statement Wednesday that the <a href="https://layoffstracker.com/mindgeek-pornhub-parent-company-layoffs/">reported layoffs</a>, which come from layoffstracker.com, “are more evidence that the infrastructure of the pornography industry is crumbling and that MindGeek needs to be investigated.”
“It is no coincidence that MindGeek’s two top executives have fled amid a growing number of lawsuits we and other law firms have filed on behalf of sex trafficking survivors whose abuse has been shown on Pornhub,” Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the center said. “And because of the intense outcry from survivors, advocates, corporations, and even from news outlets like the New York Times, The New Yorker, and the BBC that revealed Pornhub’s criminality.”
But MindGeek told The Daily Wire such allegations are “categorically false.”
According to MindGeek’s LinkedIn page, the company employs over 1,400 workers worldwide, but according to former employees, the company has undergone major restructuring, causing multiple teams and employees to face layoffs.
Last year, MindGeek faced a lawsuit alleging the company violated federal sex trafficking and child pornography laws. Such violations led credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard to suspend processing payments on Pornhub following a New York Times report revealing illegal content on its website, according to Reuters.
Hawkins said that for the last decade, MindGeek has faced numerous survivors who came forward about their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sex-trafficking">sex trafficking</a> or child sexual abuse being filmed and then uploaded, monetized, promoted, made downloadable, and shared countless times on Pornhub and other MindGeek-owned websites.
“Pornhub has profited from the mass distribution of filmed sexual crime as well as non-consensually recorded and non-consensually uploaded videos,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins also called on the United States to hold Pornhub accountable for mass criminal exploitation, considering the website has servers in the country.
“As long as pornography tube sites don’t have to ensure that all who are depicted in explicit material have truly consented to participate or that all are actually adults, more criminality will happen in this pernicious industry,” she said. “Currently there are no such regulations for pornography tube sites, and as a result, thousands of victims are powerless in removing recordings of their abuse while Pornhub and other websites make millions of dollars from their trauma.”
During a virtual U.S. Congressional briefing in 2021, the non-profit presented evidence of the rampant criminality on Pornhub and included testimony from survivors.
Sexually abused children and trafficking victims have filed multiple class-action civil lawsuits against Pornhub in the United States and Canada.

Pornhub Parent Company Denies Reports That Employees Are Fleeing

Pornhub Owner Denies Allegations From Non-Profit Claiming Mass Employee Layoff

Child Abuse

Pornhub

Federal, state, and local authorities announced the rescue of 70 missing children in parts of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico.
“Operation Lost Souls” recovered the missing children — many of whom were runaways ranging between the ages of 10 and 17 — throughout Texas, as well as the state of Colorado and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hsi-el-paso-locates-recovers-70-missing-children-multi-agency-operation#:~:text=TX%20Child%20Exploitation-,HSI%20El%20Paso%20locates%2C%20recovers%2070,children%20in%20multi%2Dagency%20operation&amp;text=EL%20PASO%20%E2%80%93%20Homeland%20Security%20Investigations,week%20operation%20in%20West%20Texas">press release</a>.
The operation ran from the end of April through the middle of May, and its results were announced on May 25, which is also National Missing Children’s Day.
The rescued children included victims of sex trafficking and physical and sexual abuse. According to ICE, the agencies involved provided counseling to the children and their families.
“Operation Lost Souls exemplifies Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crimes of victimization. In this case, we are looking out for our children — our community’s most precious resource,” HSI El Paso Deputy Special Agent Taekuk Cho said in the press release. “HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover and help missing children heal, while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for these heinous crimes and brought to justice.”
“At the Department of Public Safety, teamwork is one of our core values,” Texas DPS Major Matthew Mull added. “We are grateful for all of our law enforcement partners who participated in this operation and who work around-the-clock every day to protect our communities, including our youth.”
The announcement of “Operation Lost Souls” comes days after authorities arrested eight individuals in connection with a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-girl-trafficked-mavericks-dallas-suspects-arrested-oklahoma">trafficked from a Dallas Mavericks game</a> on April 8.
The girl allegedly separated from her father to use the restroom at the game and was later seen leaving the American Airlines Center with an unknown man. A few days later, the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative found the girl’s nude photos displayed on a website associated with prostitution. Police in Oklahoma City were able to recover the victim on April 18 — 11 days after her disappearance.
&#8220;We are thankful for the work of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the recovery of our daughter. My heart breaks for the unimaginable things my daughter had to endure for the 11 days she was taken, and I am so glad she is safe as we work toward her recovery,&#8221; the girl&#8217;s mother said in a May 5 statement.
Zeke Fortenberry, an attorney representing the family, questioned how the male suspect who allegedly lured the girl from the arena was able to obtain a fraudulent ticket.
&#8220;The systems and organizations involved in this case continually failed the victim. She should never have had contact with the man at the Mavericks game,” Fortenberry said. “This victim’s life will forever be changed.”
Following an interview on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/candace">Candace</a> last year, Tim Ballard — a former Department of Homeland Security special agent and founder of <a href="https://ourrescue.org/">Operation Underground Railroad</a> — explained that Americans are the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-many-more-can-we-get-out-inside-the-frontline-battle-to-end-child-sex-trafficking">largest drivers of demand</a> for the $150 billion global sex trafficking industry.
“The country with the highest demand is going to be the country most exposed to sexual material,” Ballard said. “And so, what country is as large as the United States where everyone has access to the internet? None. So that’s my theory as to why the United States is the largest consumer.”

Flashing lights on a police car

Authorities Rescue 70 Missing Children, Including Sex-Trafficking Victims In Texas, Colorado, And Mexico

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