Inside the $150B sex trafficking industry

FOX 11’s Hal Eisner takes a deeper looking into the world of sex trafficking and spoke to two people who are working to help victims get out of that world. LOS ANGELES - If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, there is help available. Talk to highly trained anti-trafficking advocates at the National Human Trafficking Hotline 24/7 by calling 1-888-373-7888, or by texting 233733. LOS ANGELES —According to experts, sex trafficking is the fastest growing illegal enterprise in the world. They say it’s a $150 billion industry. Kate Ouimette-Wedell was a victim of sex trafficking. At 18, she came to Hollywood to get into the music industry. But, her dreams turned to nightmares as she said others used threats of blackballing her from the industry if she didn’t do what they wanted. She said she had guns held to her head and was forced with all kinds of threats as well. She’s written a book about her experience called Exposed. Clayton Cranford is the author of Parenting in the Digital World. He’s also the head of . He says sex trafficking is “a crime that’s happening everywhere.“ Cranford’s also a former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy, and says while sex trafficking does occur on the streets, it’s largely happening online. “It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, and it’s outpacing drugs now,“ Cranford said. “Actually, selling people is more lucrative than selling drugs.“ And more times than not, Cranford said, victims in the dark universe of sex trafficking are blackmailed. “Parenting in the Digital World“ by Clayton Cranford “It could be you’ve obtained some compromising information about a person. Often, we’re having people engaging in sex acts; maybe it’s being videotaped without their knowledge,“ he said. Elisabeth Gegner heads up the Freedom Ride Project, and says the sex trafficking industry is “all supply and demand. The demand for sex trafficking is likely not going to stop tomorrow. In fact, it’s going to continue to go up and up.“ Gegner has been part of the army fighting sex trafficking for years, and focuses on sexual exploitation of children. SUGGESTED: 500 arrests made in one week as part of California anti-human trafficking operation “The thing about sex trafficking versus drug trafficking is that you can sell a drug once and then it’s gone, but when [you] sell a child, you can sell that child over and over and over again.“ Much of it is done in secret online, and starts with kids who are made to believe only the perpetrator loves them. And initially, Gegner says, “the trafficker has the person they’re perpetrating think that they’re a real boyfriend, and then the person falls in love with them. They’re sometimes groomed over a period of a month, or even a year sometimes.“ But sometimes, victims like Ouimette-Wedell get away. In her case, she was kicked out of a car on the side of the road and ran. She eventually set up homes to help others who are in the same situation she used to be in. Her non-profit is called CherishedLA. It’s a two-year residential program for survivors of human trafficking with a social enterprise where the residents make organic bath and body products and jewelry. You can find out more about what they do at . Hal Eisner