Monday, February 4, 2013

Sex Trafficking Charges in Schiller Park


Another local case of sex trafficking in Chicagoland has made the news. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office announced charges this weekend against three traffickers who were controlling women in the sex trade. Law enforcement had uncovered the trafficking in a home in Schiller Park.

“Keith Williams was the chief operating officer of a sex trafficking house of horrors, providing the sexual services and drug-addicted women to countless numbers of paying customers and collecting all of the significant cash profits for himself and his associates.”

This case is a step forward in Cook County’s work to address human trafficking and to recognize that prostitution and trafficking often overlap. CAASE applauds law enforcement for taking the time to investigate and bring traffickers to justice. All too often, people in prostitution are arrested and re-arrested without meaningful intervention. In this case, the women in the house were identified as crime victims and law enforcement went after the traffickers.

CAASE endorses a law enforcement model that holds pimps, johns, and traffickers accountable while creating a supportive network of services for survivors of the sex trade. Read more about our proposal for these services here.