08/26/2026
S*X TRAFFICKING: WE ARE WATCHING CHILDREN BE SOLD—AND OUR OUTRAGE IS NOT ENOUGH
I am tired of watching our emotions flare up just long enough to accomplish absolutely nothing.
A s*x-trafficking story breaks.
We are horrified.
We post it.
😡
💔
🙏🏾
We write, “This is disgusting!”
We write, “Somebody needs to do something!”
Then three days later?
Silence.
Another headline comes.
Another political argument.
Another celebrity scandal.
Another viral video.
And our minds change direction with the wind.
Meanwhile, somewhere in this country and somewhere in this world, a child is still being s*xually exploited.
OUR EMOTIONS ARE NOT SAVING CHILDREN.
An angry emoji isn't intervention.
A sad face isn't legislation.
Sharing an Epstein headline isn't advocacy.
Posting “save the children” isn't the same thing as actually demanding that systems protect them.
And outrage that lasts only until the algorithm changes is not outrage powerful enough to change anything.
Maybe the question isn't:
“Why does s*x trafficking continue?”
Maybe we need to start asking:
WHY HAVE WE BECOME SO EASY TO DISTRACT?
---
THESE ARE CHILDREN—INCLUDING THE ONES SOCIETY THINKS ARE “OLD ENOUGH”
I need to make this personal.
I know what it means for adults to look at a teenager and believe she is old enough to understand decisions she isn't developmentally equipped to understand.
I was that teenager.
I met an adult man when I was 15 years old.
I became pregnant at 16.
I had my first child at 17.
People can look backward and say:
“She knew what she was doing.”
“She made her decision.”
“She was almost grown.”
No.
I WAS A CHILD.
My body developing did not make my brain an adult brain.
Being capable of becoming pregnant did not suddenly give me the judgment, maturity, life experience or power of an adult.
I came from brokenness.
I was vulnerable.
And I can look backward as a grown woman today and recognize something that teenage me could not fully recognize:
I was groomed.
That's why I become angry when people casually talk about teenagers as though sixteen somehow means grown.
It doesn't.
And legally, California's age of consent is 18.
But this goes deeper than the number written in a statute.
There is a reason predators look for vulnerability.
---
THEY DON'T JUST LOOK FOR CHILDREN—THEY LOOK FOR WOUNDS
The Department of Justice specifically recognizes that traffickers disproportionately prey upon vulnerable populations, including runaway and homeless youth, children involved with child welfare or juvenile justice, and people struggling with substance-use disorders.
Why?
Because vulnerability can be exploited.
A runaway needs somewhere to sleep.
A hungry child needs food.
A neglected child wants somebody to love them.
A child escaping abuse wants protection.
A teenager struggling with drugs wants the next high.
And somebody comes along saying:
“I'll take care of you.”
That can be the beginning of the trap.
NCMEC says traffickers and buyers specifically target children who have run away and children looking for love, shelter and stability. In 2025, reports came from rural, suburban, urban and tribal communities across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
This isn't just happening in some dark alley.
It's happening in America.
---
I HAVE MET THE ADULT WOMEN WHO USED TO BE THOSE CHILDREN
I have worked with women whose stories changed the way I look at prostitution forever.
I heard women tell me they entered prostitution at:
11.
12.
13.
Those aren't women.
Those are little girls.
So years later, when society encounters a 30-year-old woman addicted to drugs and being prostituted, we point at the adult standing in front of us.
I want to know about the child behind her.
What happened when she was eleven?
Who found her?
Who groomed her?
Who first sold her?
Who first purchased her?
Who introduced her to drugs?
Who realized she was vulnerable and decided vulnerability could become profitable?
And how many adults encountered that child along the way and failed her?
Sometimes what society calls a “prostitute” at 30 is a human being whose s*xual exploitation began before she had even entered middle school.
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AND DON'T YOU DARE FORGET THE BOYS
Girls are trafficked.
Boys are trafficked.
NCMEC's 2025 data identified 342 male children among 4,426 likely child s*x-trafficking victims reported missing to the organization.
NCMEC itself warns that boys remain under-identified.
So our language matters.
These aren't only our daughters.
THESE ARE OUR CHILDREN.
Our sons too.
A boy being s*xually exploited is not somehow less violated because he is male.
A teenage boy isn't supposed to “enjoy it.”
He isn't weak because someone exploited him.
He is a victim.
And he deserves to be found, protected, believed and helped.
---
AND YES—WOMEN CAN BE TRAFFICKERS TOO
Stop making s*xual exploitation synonymous with male perpetrators.
Men commit horrific trafficking crimes.
But women can recruit.
Women can groom.
Women can facilitate.
Women can transport.
Women can profit.
Women can help predators gain access to children.
Ghislaine Maxwell is a woman.
A federal jury convicted Maxwell of five charges arising from her role with Jeffrey Epstein, including s*x trafficking of a minor.
She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
So this isn't:
GO AFTER THE MEN.
It's:
GO AFTER THE PREDATORS.
Male.
Female.
Rich.
Poor.
Citizen.
Non-citizen.
Republican.
Democrat.
Celebrity.
Politician.
Pastor.
Teacher.
Coach.
Parent.
Boyfriend.
Girlfriend.
Relative.
Stranger.
I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE.
If you traffic children, recruit children, groom children for commercial s*xual exploitation, purchase s*xual access to children, knowingly facilitate their exploitation or profit from it:
ACCOUNTABILITY.
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AND WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE BUYING THEM?
We spend enormous amounts of time talking about pimps and traffickers.
Talk about the buyers.
Because somebody is creating the demand.
Federal law doesn't merely address the person selling a child.
It includes patronizing and soliciting within the federal s*x-trafficking statute.
There is no market without somebody willing to purchase.
So stop asking only:
“Who sold the child?”
Ask:
“WHO BOUGHT THE CHILD?”
Who was willing to hand over money or something of value in exchange for s*xual access to another human being?
When the victim is a minor, federal law does not require proof that the trafficker used force, fraud or coercion to make the commercial s*x act qualify under the child s*x-trafficking statute.
Because the law recognizes something our culture sometimes refuses to recognize:
A CHILD CANNOT BE COMMERCIAL S*XUAL PROPERTY.
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AND YES—THE VERY YOUNG NEED TO BE PART OF THIS CONVERSATION
One of the things Sound of Freedom forced many people to confront was an unbearable possibility:
What about very young children?
Toddlers.
Preschool-aged children.
Babies.
We should not use a movie as our evidence.
We should investigate the evidence itself.
But we should not turn away simply because the subject is unbearable.
Infants and very young children can be victims of s*xual abuse and exploitation.
There is no minimum age at which a child's suffering suddenly becomes important.
If the victim is seventeen—
protect them.
If the victim is thirteen—
protect them.
If the victim is seven—
protect them.
If the victim is three—
protect them.
If the victim is an infant—
PROTECT THEM.
There is no such thing as an infant consenting.
There is no such thing as a toddler choosing s*xual exploitation.
There is no such thing as a preschooler “putting themselves in that situation.”
At those ages, every excuse disappears.
All that's left is evil committed against someone completely defenseless.
---
WORLDWIDE, CHILDREN ARE BEING TRAFFICKED
According to United Nations data, children represented approximately 38% of detected trafficking victims worldwide in 2022.
Thirty-eight percent.
And remember what that number actually means:
Detected victims.
Not every child being trafficked.
Not every child who has disappeared.
Not every child whose exploitation hasn't been recognized.
The ones authorities know about.
Children are trafficked for s*xual exploitation, forced labor, forced begging, criminal activity and other forms of exploitation.
And child s*xual exploitation has been documented in brothels and commercial-s*x establishments internationally.
So yes, America should care about what is happening overseas.
But before we become self-righteous—
---
AMERICA, LOOK IN YOUR OWN HOUSE
In 2025, the FBI recorded 305,339 juvenile missing-person entries in the NCIC Missing Person File.
That number needs context.
It does not mean 305,339 different American children were kidnapped.
It does not mean all of those children were trafficked.
Entries and individual children are not necessarily the same thing, and many missing children return home or are recovered.
But NCMEC provides another statistic we cannot ignore.
Of more than 32,000 missing-child cases reported to NCMEC in 2025:
1 IN 7 WERE LIKELY VICTIMS OF CHILD S*X TRAFFICKING.
And NCMEC received more than 113,500 reports of possible child s*x trafficking in 2025.
So don't tell me this is somebody else's country's problem.
Don't tell me it's merely something happening across our border.
Don't tell me the monster always looks foreign.
Sometimes the monster was born right here.
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OUR LAWS AND OUR SYSTEMS NEED TO PROTECT VICTIMS BETTER
And this part is personal for me too.
I have experienced what it feels like to believe there is evidence involving harm to your own children and still watch the system fail to produce the accountability you believe that evidence deserved.
That changes you.
Because when it's your child, “the system” isn't an abstract political discussion anymore.
It's your baby's life.
Their trauma.
Their evidence.
Their future.
And you discover something devastating:
Having evidence does not always mean there will be a prosecution.
Having a victim does not automatically mean there will be a conviction.
Having witnesses does not guarantee a case will reach a jury.
And when vulnerable witnesses have addiction, trauma, criminal histories, unstable lives or other issues affecting how authorities believe a case can be proven, families can watch accountability disappear.
But here's my question:
Who exactly do we expect predators to target?
People with perfect lives?
Perfect memories?
Perfect records?
Perfect mental health?
Perfect childhoods?
Of course not.
Predators deliberately look for vulnerability.
Then our justice system can encounter the very vulnerabilities predators exploited and see them as complications.
That should disturb us.
A traumatized victim may be messy.
An addicted witness may be messy.
A runaway child's story may be messy.
Trauma itself can be messy.
JUSTICE CANNOT BE RESERVED ONLY FOR PERFECT VICTIMS.
Our laws, investigative practices and prosecution systems must become better at handling trauma, exploitation and vulnerable witnesses without abandoning due process for the accused.
Because we can protect constitutional rights and demand better systems for victims.
Those principles do not have to be enemies.
---
AND THE COMMUNITY NEEDS TO STOP OUTSOURCING OUR CONSCIENCE
Government cannot fix everything.
Police cannot be everywhere.
Churches cannot do everything.
Nonprofits cannot do everything.
Parents cannot do everything.
But everybody can do something.
That's where I'm challenging you.
Not Washington first.
YOU.
Me.
Our neighborhoods.
Our churches.
Our schools.
Our families.
Our communities.
What happens after you click 😡?
What happens after you click 💔?
What happens after you type:
“This world is sick.”
Then what?
Did you learn the signs of grooming?
Did you teach your children?
Did you check whether your child knows that an adult asking them to keep s*xual conversations secret isn't safe?
Did you support an organization helping trafficking survivors?
Did you advocate for better legislation?
Did you pay attention to the runaway child instead of calling them “bad”?
Did you listen when a child disclosed something uncomfortable?
Did you report something suspicious?
Did you vote according to what lawmakers actually do about exploitation instead of merely what they say?
Did your church develop policies that protect children?
Did you demand accountability when the accused person was somebody you liked?
OR DID YOU JUST POST AN EMOJI?
Because awareness without action eventually becomes noise.
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I AM A CHRISTIAN—BUT I'M TALKING TO HUMANITY
My faith absolutely informs why I'm writing this.
«“Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die.” — Proverbs 31:8 NKJV»
But you don't have to believe in Jesus to stand beside me here.
Atheist?
Come on.
Muslim?
Come on.
Jewish?
Come on.
Agnostic?
Come on.
Republican?
Come on.
Democrat?
Come on.
Independent?
Come on.
Immigrant?
Come on.
Citizen?
Come on.
Because if the one sentence humanity can no longer agree upon is—
CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE BOUGHT AND SOLD FOR S*X—
then we have lost far more than our politics.
We have lost our humanity.
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AND CHRISTIANS—WE HAVE AN EVEN GREATER RESPONSIBILITY
Because we claim to know the One who said:
«“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” — Ephesians 5:11 NKJV»
So expose it.
But don't bear false witness while doing it.
If there is evidence, follow it.
If there isn't evidence, don't manufacture it.
If the evidence points toward somebody you hate, follow it.
If the evidence points toward somebody you voted for—
FOLLOW IT ANYWAY.
If it's a man—
follow it.
If it's a woman—
follow it.
If it's an American—
follow it.
If it's an immigrant—
follow it.
If it's a politician—
follow it.
If it's a billionaire—
follow it.
And if it's somebody standing behind a pulpit holding a Bible—
FOLLOW IT THERE TOO.
God does not need us protecting predators to preserve the reputation of Christianity.
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YOUR OUTRAGE IS NOT ENOUGH
That's ultimately what I'm saying.
Your tears aren't enough.
My anger isn't enough.
Our Facebook posts aren't enough.
Our hashtags aren't enough.
Our documentaries aren't enough.
Our prayers cannot become excuses for refusing to act.
Our politics cannot become excuses for selectively caring.
And our attention spans cannot determine which children deserve advocacy this week.
S*X TRAFFICKING DOESN'T STOP WHEN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.
So stay angry enough to learn.
Stay disturbed enough to speak.
Stay compassionate enough to help.
Stay engaged long enough to demand better laws.
Stay vigilant enough to protect children.
Stay humble enough to listen to survivors.
Stay principled enough to demand due process while refusing to abandon victims.
Stay courageous enough to expose predators regardless of who they are.
And stay focused long enough for outrage to become action.
Because somewhere tonight there is a child who does not need another emoji.
They don't need another viral moment.
They don't need another politician giving a speech.
They need adults who refuse to forget them.
Our children deserve more than three days of outrage.
They deserve a society that actually fights for them.
And until that happens—
WE SHOULD NOT BE QUIET.
