Human trafficking web of deceit and what you can do

Cybertips, backed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, is up against a digital wave of filth.

The tip line helped catch a Mattapan man accused of sharing “multiple files depicting graphic child sexual abuse,” Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced Friday.

That suspect, Tristan Reid, 21, “allegedly raped a juvenile, threatened the victim with a knife and filmed the victim posing in the nude over a period of several days,” the DA added. He is charged with human trafficking.

Sadly, this scenario is repeated countless times.

Prosecutors in the U.S. filed a record number of sex trafficking cases last year, according to the 2020 Federal Human Trafficking Report published this past week. The data points are shocking:

■ 579 active human trafficking prosecutions

■ 1,007 active defendants

■ 1,499 victims in those active cases

■ 59% of online trafficking occurred on Facebook

The number of cases filed in 2020 jumped 11% following two years of decline, the report states. Add to that federal courts convicted the lowest number of defendants in human trafficking cases since 2012. The pandemic has been good for the seamy side of the web.

As Rollins put it in her announcement of the Mattapan man’s arrest, “Children are among the most vulnerable victims.” They are easy prey on the internet and social media platforms.

So, what can one person do? Rollins is right to say, “These allegations are deeply disturbing and speak to the duty that we all have — as parents, caregivers and people of conscience — to ensure that the children in our lives and throughout our communities are safe and have access to resources to end abuse and begin their journey toward healing.”

The 2020 human trafficking report stresses just that point. More than a third of case referrals involved a victim who used a nonprofit or hotline to help alert law enforcement. “Moreover, 88% of the new human trafficking cases in 2020 involved multiagency collaboration in the investigation of the case,” the study adds.

Teens in crisis need someone to turn to. That’s where police, social workers, teachers, clergy, family and friends all play a role.

With all the talk about defunding police, why not flip that equation and back programs to help kids trust law enforcement. If life at home is unstable, where can teens turn? A community center and friendly neighborhood officer go a long way.

This is where the candidates for office are missing the point — or at least many of them are. It takes courage to say “Back the Police.” It’s not popular, right now.

The federal report marks the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which made human trafficking a federal crime. It also places a bull’s-eye on the purveyors of porn and abuse.

In the past two decades, the report state, the result has been:

■ 85% of the cases had the feds teaming up with local authorities

■ 91% of cases last year were for sexual trafficking

■ 9% were for forced labor

But there’s a method to this madness. The report says that in “both sex trafficking and forced labor cases, it is rare that perpetrators kidnap complete strangers off the street. Instead, traffickers often make calculated decisions about whom to victimize based on vulnerabilities that they can exploit.”

Why? Substance abuse tops the list, followed by runaways, immigrants, the homeless and kids in foster care. It’s clear, as Rollins said, look out for the children in your own way.

Those concerned that a child is being exploited online may report a Cybertip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-THE-LOST or cybertipline.com.