South Carolina Archives - News - U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking

New Upstate restaurant to employ survivors of sex trafficking

Jul 18, 2019 | Awareness, News, South Carolina

Greenville, SC- Amber Worthy reports on Jasmine’s Kitchen, a new restaurant in the Upstate that plans to employ survivors of sex trafficking.

N.C. woman arrested in connection with Myrtle Beach human trafficking case

Jun 17, 2019 | News, Perpetrators, South Carolina

Becca Mills was in Myrtle Beach back in March with three other people and a 15-year-old victim who was performing sex acts for money.

Anti-human trafficking posters placed in SC arena bathrooms during NCAA tournament

Mar 22, 2019 | Awareness, News, South Carolina

South Carolina law requires posting of human trafficking awareness posters in hotels, bars and airports.Now, posters with the human trafficking hotline and other awareness information are in stalls in the men’s and women’s restrooms of Colonial Life Arena for college basketball’s biggest annual event.

Police: Man charged in Raleigh kidnapping, statutory rape spurs human trafficking investigation

Dec 18, 2018 | News, Perpetrators, South Carolina

Olabi, 22, of Raleigh, N.C. caused parents to be concerned over a year ago when he was recruiting teens to work part time with the Carolina Youth Club. He’s now arrested after a routine traffic stop outside of Wellford, South Carolina that led to the discovery of a kidnapped 13-year-old girl. “Certainly her age was cause for concern and the girl’s attire was also a red flag. “She was not dressed appropriately for the weather, Officer R.A. Smith said.

Sex trafficking in SC: ‘Housing first’ model is key for 1st safe home for women

Nov 28, 2018 | Awareness, South Carolina, Survivors

A small, spiral-bound notebook stays with a Greenville woman wherever she goes. For the past month, she’s been filling up the pages, growing her “thankful list.” She’s thankful to be alive. Thankful for a second chance. Thankful for a roof over her head. Thankful for a hot shower. It’s a new season of life for the 34-year-old since leaving a lifestyle of prostitution and drug abuse that began at a young age. The woman is one of five embarking on a two-year recovery program in Greenville that pulls survivors out of human sex trafficking, an industry that’s become a hidden epidemic across the U.S. and in South Carolina, particularly in the Upstate where Interstate 85 connects Atlanta to Charlotte, two of the nation’s trafficking hotbeds.

Sheriff: More than 20 arrested in ‘Operation Intercept,’ targeting child predators and prostitution

Oct 22, 2018 | News, Perpetrators, South Carolina

Greenville County Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown and Greenville police Chief Ken Miller announced Friday that hundreds of warrants were signed and more than 20 people were arrested during “Operation Intercept.”

Suspect charged with sex trafficking after woman says she was ‘forced to participate as a prostitute’ in MB

Jul 23, 2018 | News, Perpetrators, South Carolina

A police report filed Tuesday with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department shows a 22-year-old woman claims she was a victim of sex trafficking.

Man gets 30 years in prison for sex-trafficking scheme based in North Charleston

Jul 16, 2018 | News, Perpetrators, South Carolina

A Summerville man who trafficked a pregnant teenage girl and a young woman by using violence and withholding food to coerce them to perform sex acts has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.

Florence man sentenced to 15 years for role in sex trafficking operation

Jun 25, 2018 | News, Perpetrators, South Carolina

A group of men were sentenced today in United States District Court in Charleston for their roles in a conspiracy to force underage girls and young women into sex trafficking throughout the southeast, and one of them was from Florence, according to a news release from United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon.