Milwaukee as a 'mecca for sex trafficking': New report sheds light on scope of problem
Ashley Luthern, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(Photo: Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Reporter Ashley Luthern explains how a new study was able to quantify the number of people who were victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee during a four-year period.
A new report estimates 340 young adults and children have been victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee in a four-year period.
"We've heard from different sources that we're the mecca of sex trafficking, but we need to be able to measure that," said Mallory O'Brien, director of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, which participated in the report. "This was our opportunity to do that," she said.
Milwaukee has gained a reputation as a hub for sex trafficking after a series of high-profile prosecutions of pimps, and rankings in nationwide FBI human trafficking stings.
Court cases here have revealed generations of traffickers, some of whom participated in "pimp roundtables," during which they discussed business practices of the illegal trade.
The report, released Thursday, expands upon a 2013 study that found at least 77 children had been sexually exploited in Milwaukee in a two-year period — a number experts said was likely a gross underestimate, as it only tracked the number who had made contact with police.
The latest research found 340 people ages 25 and younger who were confirmed or believed to have been victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2016.
Compared with the 2013 report, the new study analyzes victims from a wider age range, over a longer period of time and uses more comprehensive methods of identifying instances of trafficking in police reports.
However, it still likely provides an underestimate because data was limited, coming only from Milwaukee police incident reports, and because sex trafficking, like domestic violence and sexual assault, is a frequently underreported crime.
Among the report's key findings:
Of the 231 individuals with demographic or historical information available, 97% were female and 65% were African-American.
81% were confirmed victims of sex trafficking.
86% had another prior reported interaction with Milwaukee police, including sexual assaults, battery, child abuse or missing persons reports.
59% had a history of being reported as a missing person to Milwaukee police at least once.
55% were juveniles at the first reported incident of suspected or confirmed sex trafficking.
The report, which was paid for by the Bob and Linda Davis Family Fund, also identified a link between trafficking and out-of-home care, including group homes, foster homes, residential care centers, supervised independent living and placement with a relative who is not a parent.
Of confirmed trafficking victims, 62% were reported missing from out-of-home care.
"We didn't just stop with, are they being trafficked or not, but we did dig as deep as we could to try and determine what are the risk factors," O'Brien said.
Group homes
Police reports and social service providers have said recruitment for sex trafficking happens in group homes, with one of the study's participants describing the girls as "moving from one stable to another."
Because of that, the report recommends limiting the number of sex-trafficked youth in a single group home and imposing penalties on group homes that do not follow state requirements for reporting a child missing.
READ THE REPORT: Estimating the Magnitude of Sex Trafficking Risk and Victimization of Juveniles and Young
"In the past, we figured out there was a strong correlation between a missing report and a risk for sex trafficking," said Claudine O'Leary of Rethink Resources, an organization that offers training to assist youths and adults who have been sexually exploited.
"Then we were able to recognize the risk of out-of-home care where the majority were missing from," she said.
The state Department of Children and Families requires group homes to notify police within eight hours of a child missing. The homes also are required to report when the child returns and if the child was trafficked. The report recommends group homes face penalties up to and including revocation of their license if they do not comply.
"I hope that group homes do a better job of reporting them missing and letting us know when they return, that's really the struggle," said Milwaukee Police Capt. Aimee Obregon who commands the department's Sensitive Crimes Division, which contributed to the report.
Some group homes and advocates said they are discouraged from reporting a juvenile missing to police if the youth is considered a habitual runaway and typically returns in a consistent time frame, the report says.
The Police Department is working on ways to make it easier for group homes to report a missing child, Obregon said.
Under the current department policy, caretakers and others must go to a police district station in person to make the missing report, she said. That may be difficult or impossible for a group home worker to do within the time frame if they have other children to monitor.
Pedophile priest worked at St. Mary of the Angels, Archbishop Walsh during ’80s
By TOM DINKI, Olean Times
A retired priest, who admitted this week to sexually abusing dozens of teenage boys decades ago, served at St. Mary of the Angels Church (pictured), now a basilica, in Olean, NY from 1982-83.
OLEAN, NY — A retired priest, who admitted this week to sexually abusing dozens of teenage boys decades ago, served in Olean and Portville during the 1980s.
The Rev. Norbert Orsolits admitted to The Buffalo News Tuesday he sexually abused “probably dozens” of teenage boys during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Orsolits, now 78 and living in Ashford, was assigned to St. Mary of the Angels Church in Olean from 1982 to 1983 and Sacred Heart Church in Portville from 1984 to 1988, during which time he also taught at Archbishop Walsh High School in Olean.
According to Orsolits, he was assigned to Sacred Heart after the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo received a complaint he sexually abused a child and ordered him to receive psychological treatment at a Canadian facility.
“I am learning about this as the general public is,” the Very Rev. Gregory Dobson, the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels pastor, wrote in an email to the Olean Times Herald Thursday morning. Sacred Heart merged with St. Mary’s as an oratory in 2007.
Dobson, who joined the parish in 1997, added he may be able to make a statement after a meeting for diocese priests Thursday in Buffalo. However, Dobson did not offer an additional comment by press time Thursday evening.
The diocese held a press conference in downtown Buffalo Thursday announcing a fund to settle claims of child sexual abuse against its clergy. Individuals who have previously made claims will be contacted and invited to participate in the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which will offer monetary settlements.
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| circa 1995 |
The diocese reported it has paid out approximately $1.2 million in settlements for sexual abuse allegations over the last 20 years, and it has received as many as 20 sexual abuse complaints against priests since 2005.
“I know this is the right thing to do,” said diocese Bishop Richard J. Malone in a statement. “The victims and our Church in Western New York cannot move forward until the pain of the past is properly addressed.”
According to Buffalo media reports of the press conference, the diocese confirmed Orsolits was assigned to Southdown Institute, located near Toronto, for six months of treatment following allegations he abused someone under the age of 17. However, diocese officials reportedly did not specify what parish the allegations stemmed from, when they received the allegations or when Orsolits was treated.
The attorney for the diocese, Terrence M. Connors, said Orsolits was sent away to the facility to find out whether he was suitable for ministry, as was the “gold standard” for handling clergy sexual abuse allegations at the time.
“When he came back with a clean bill of health, advised that he was able to come back and serve, he did serve,” said Connors, according to Buffalo media.
Connors also said Orsolits served in a “guarded fashion” after Southdown. According to The Buffalo News, a reporter then pointed out Orsolits claimed he served at Sacred Heart and Walsh right after treatment. Connors replied he was “not aware of that, but we'll take a look and see if that's an accurate statement or not.”
Orsolits said Tuesday he stopped having sexual contact with teenage boys after his time at Southdown.
The diocese removed Orsolits from ministry in 2003, the same year it and other dioceses overhauled their policies on child sexual abuse allegations in wake of the 2002 Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal uncovered by The Boston Globe. Malone said the diocese has been conducting mandatory training and a system of background checks for all who regularly interact with young people since 2003.
Florida man gets 60 years for
sexual abuse of infant, toddler
3 stories - 1 county
By Garrett Pelican
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Clay County man convicted of sexually exploiting an infant and toddler to produce child pornography at his Middleburg home was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice.
Software engineer Andrew Leslie, 23, who pleaded guilty in October to federal sexual abuse and child pornography charges, was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release once his prison sentence is complete.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan said Leslie "committed unspeakable crimes against the most vulnerable of victims, children so young that they literally cannot speak for themselves," adding the sentence guarantees that Leslie will "never harm another child."
Leslie has been in custody since his arrest in October 2016. That's after federal agents found images showing Leslie abusing the two children on a digital camera at his bedside during a raid of his home.
Other digital devices seized during the raid revealed that Leslie was sharing and distributing images and video of the child pornography he produced, according to his plea agreement.
It was then too that agents also rescued the two-year-old child, with whom Leslie acknowledged he had been in bed when investigators entered the home.
This case marks yet another brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Justice Department aimed at cracking down on the abuse and sexual exploitation of children. To learn more, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Middleburg, FL man arrested, charged with possession of child porn
A Middleburg man was arrested on multiple felony charges concerning child pornography possession, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said.
The arrest of Rodney Thomas Ternovsky, 40, came after the Internet Crimes Against Children's Unit, working in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, raided a second home in as many days.
Former Florida public school teacher pleads guilty to
child porn possession
By Vic Micolucci
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. - A former public school teacher has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
This month, 67-year-old Dennis Langevin was sentenced to 15 years in prison plus five years probation.
In October, News4Jax was at the scene when federal agents and Clay County sheriff's deputies raided his apartment on Loring Avenue near Park Avenue, which is located across the street from a private school.
"I do not give you permission to cover this story because it may involve me, and I do not give you permission," Langevin told News4Jax in October as he left the complex, before he arrested.
On his social media profiles, Langevin wrote that he worked for the Clay County School District for 35 years, from 1977 until 2012, and he taught at W.E. Cherry Elementary School in Orange Park.
Clay Co., FL
Co-founder of Brookville Behavioral Health faces 100+ child sex abuse charges
by Matthew Stevens
PUNXSUTAWNEY - State police in Punxsutawney charged a Jefferson County man Thursday with more than 100 counts of sexual abuse of a child.
Glenn Tetro, 56, has been charged with 43 counts of rape, 86 counts of involuntary deviate sexual assault and 34 counts of statutory sexual assault.
The 56-year-old is the co-founder and clinical director for Brookville Behavioral Health Inc.
According to police, their investigating revealed that the minor had been sexually abused for several years since 1994. According to an affadavit, the abuse happened from 1994 to 1998 when the victim was first six years old.
The victim reported the incident to police in August 8, 2017.
Tetro was arraigned Thursday evening and his bail was set at $500,000. He is at the Jefferson County Jail.
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