Megan, a teenager, met a man online and traveled a long way to meet him. During their ‘relationship’, he got her addicted to heroin and then began trafficking her for sexual exploitation to various cities around the United States.
Megan’s mother said she felt frantic and helpless, she was in despair at what a trafficker was doing to her daughter. Then she found out about Hope for Justice, and contacted us.
She said: “The first call I got was from the investigator at Hope for Justice…He was really positive about what I had sent him, and you know we had a case. I was very confident that they would keep digging and they would get justice.”
You can hear audio of Megan’s mother talking about what happened to her daughter in this clip:
Hope for Justice investigators – a team of seasoned police officers with long careers in law enforcement – got to work. They followed a number of leads and managed to track down Megan and rescue her from this horrifying situation of exploitation and abuse. The investigation was turned over to law enforcement for prosecution.
We deal with many cases like Megan’s, where vulnerable young women are exploited into sex trafficking. They often get sucked into this world through false promises made by the traffickers, and are then kept compliant through threats, violence, drugs and deception.
Then when they come out a trafficking situation, they are often both psychologically and emotionally distraught. To be able to bridge that gap and give them the services that they need, whether that’s health care or rehabilitative care, is key to the success of turning the life around for the trafficked victim.
Megan’s mother said: “When I received a call that she was safe, words can’t explain it enough. I was so overwhelmed and so grateful that she didn’t die, and justice was going to be served.”
Talking to us later from the hospital where Megan was being treated for injuries inflicted on her by her trafficker, her mother wanted to pass along a personal message of thanks to everyone who supports Hope for Justice: “I couldn’t be more thankful for the people that keep this program going and donate to this program. And I will be donating. It’s going to take everybody.”
She also sent an email back to our lead investigator on that case, calling him “an angel” and telling how thankful she was that Hope for Justice was there to rescue Megan.
*Name changed to protect survivor’s identity
