Experts Debunk Human Trafficking Myths after North County Case

The case of the North County man who sold three captive teenage girls for sex is sad, scary, upsetting—but not surprising.

That’s what the staff at The Covering House, a center for human trafficking victims, said when they heard the news.

“I’m not really surprised anymore,” said Laura Gardner, Covering House’s life skills director. “A lot of people assume this is localized in certain areas of the city, certainly not the county, and that’s just not true. It’s everywhere.”

The Covering House is currently working with seven victims of sex trafficking, including girls who still lived with their parents, attended local schools and churches while they were being exploited.

Staff at Covering House say the North County case is not unusual. Traffickers often use social media to sell their victims for sex, whether those girls are captives or not.

“The easiest thing for us to accept is that this happens overseas,” said Lindsey Ellis, program director at Covering House. “Not only is it happening in St. Louis, it could be happening in plain sight. A lot of the girls you may see at the grocery store or at church—they’re not necessarily always locked up in a hotel room.”

In this case, the three teens were locked in a motel, according to police.

Now that the girls have been rescued, the effects of being trafficked can resemble post-traumatic stress disorder, Ellis said.

“You have to work on their safety because, somewhere along the line, that’s what was exploited,” Ellis said.  “You meet the girls where they are. Some girls will never dive deep into their trauma, and some girls have to dive deep to get over it.”

If you need help for a potential human trafficking situation, call for confidential help at 1-888-3737-888.