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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Local law enforcement: Incidents underreported, so scope not fully quantified
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 12 likely victims of human trafficking in Cambria County from 2015-22. There were three in Somerset County. A few legal cases have taken place. In 2017, Barshay Dunbar, of Johnstown, was convicted on charges stemming from operating a sex ring using out of the Super 8 hotel in Richland Township, in which he paid the women with drugs. The case developed when a hotel general manager notified police of suspicious activities. Barshay Reqwan Dunbar Barshay Reqwan Dunbar William Warren was arrested in 2022 and later pleaded guilty to trafficking and other charges. Law enforcement began an investigation after responding to an overdose at his residence, next to the Stonycreek Township Police Department, in which the woman later died. Then, a few weeks ago, a Johnstown man was charged with multiple felonies after allegedly providing a teenage runaway with drugs and using her for sexual favors in exchange for a place to stay. Those were all occurrences or allegations of sexual human trafficking. Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said he has not seen cases of labor human trafficking because, 'We don't really have a lot of migrant workers that come through here.' Without elaborating, Neugebauer said, 'Frankly, we're actively investigating several cases right now.' Those might not seem like a statistically significant number of incidents. But law enforcement officers, legislators, counselors and advocates agree that human trafficking crimes are extremely underreported. 'With human trafficking, 1,000%, those numbers lack reporting, especially in our area,' said Victim Services' Jessica Piro, the Cambria County Human Trafficking Response Team's co-coordinator. Johnstown Police Department | Chief Mark Britton Johnstown Police Department Chief Mark Britton shown here outside the Public Safety Building on Washington Street in downtown Johnstown on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Johnstown Police Department Chief Mark Britton compared the lack of reporting to the silence that often accompanies other crimes of violence and exploitation. 'It's just like somebody who has been raped,' Britton said. 'You know they've been raped. You know they've been abused. But they don't want to come forward because of the embarrassment, or because they have become so used to the abuse that they encounter – not so much maybe physical abuse, but the mental abuse and the emotional abuse – they don't want to come forward because they're so aligned with that type of behavior that they don't know any other behavior. They don't know how they're going to survive.' 'Definitely happening' About a decade ago, Kelly Callihan attended a Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association conference in Philadelphia during which there was a presentation about human trafficking. 'I just remember thinking, 'Human trafficking, I'm going to half-pay attention. That doesn't apply here,' ' said Callihan, who was Cambria County's district attorney at the time. 'Then once we heard the presentation, I was like, 'Wow, this is definitely happening then in our area.' ' Callihan's experience inspired her to help form the Cambria County Human Trafficking Response Team in 2016, in collaboration with other individuals and organizations, including Victim Services Inc. Kelly Callihan Kelly Callihan The trafficking response group is connected to the Cambria County Sexual Assault Response Team. Members come from victim services groups, law enforcement agencies and health care providers. The organization works to raise awareness about the issue, develop practices for law enforcement, train people such as medical professionals and hotel workers on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking, and assist survivors. Even with the team carrying out its mission, it is still a challenge to define the scope of how much human trafficking occurs locally. 'It's one of those things that I don't think, necessarily, the amount of cases that are being filed is indicative of what the actual problem is,' said Callihan, who is now the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association's executive director. 'Kind of like a hub' The Pennsylvania Turnpike, Interstate 99, U.S. Route 219, U.S. Route 22, other highways and rails carrying Amtrak trains pass through the local region – providing ways for human traffickers to move among major metropolitan areas, such as New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Buffalo. 'What we're primarily seeing is that it's kind of like a hub,' Piro said. 'We are in the middle of several key cities, and we're also on what is like a trafficking beltway from D.C. to Ohio.' Greg Neugebauer | Announces Candidacy For Judge Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer answers questions from the media after announcing his candidacy for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas during a press conference at the Young Peoples Community Center in Ebensburg on Thursday, January 16, 2025. Neugebauer recalled one case from a few years ago 'that will always stick out in my mind' involving a person being trafficked through the region. 'Essentially, the victim met this individual at a bar in another state,' Neugebauer said. 'They started hanging out, and before she knew it, she was being basically driven across the country and being severely physically abused. 'They stopped at a local store to get gas and some snacks and the perpetrator basically left her alone for a minute. And she essentially ran out of the car. A store employee saw her, saw that she had what appeared to be fresh physical injuries. That kicked off an investigation that led to us looking at things in other states and all kinds of stuff.' Neugebauer said he does not believe the people had any local connections other than they were passing through the area. The victim later died from underlying health issues, according to Neugebauer.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Law enforcement, advocates say human trafficking is underreported in Cambria and Somerset Counties
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — Local officials say recent human trafficking cases in Cambria and Somerset counties are only a glimpse of a much larger, hidden crisis, one that often goes unreported and unnoticed. According to our media partners at the Tribune-Democrat, between 2015 and 2022, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 12 likely victims in Cambria County and three in Somerset County. While those numbers may appear small, law enforcement and experts caution that the actual scope is far greater. 'Frankly, we're actively investigating several cases right now,' Greg Neugebauer, Cambria County District Attorney, said. While most local cases involve sexual exploitation, he noted that labor trafficking has not been common in the area due to the lack of migrant worker populations. Notable cases in recent years include Barshay Dunbar's 2017 conviction for operating a sex ring out of a Super 8 hotel in Richland Township using Dunbar reportedly paid women in drugs. That case began when a hotel manager tipped off police. WTAJ story here: Human trafficking suspect sentenced to prison In 2022, William Warren was arrested and later pleaded guilty after law enforcement responded to a fatal overdose at his home in Stonycreek Township. Investigators determined the incident involved trafficking and drug activity. WTAJ story here: Johnstown man accused of sex trafficking next to police station Most recently, a Johnstown man was charged with multiple felonies for allegedly providing drugs to a teenage runaway and using her for sex in exchange for housing. WTAJ story here: Johnstown man accused of sex trafficking minor, threatening to kill her Johnstown Police Chief Mark Britton said the lack of reporting is not surprising, likening it to other violent and exploitative crimes where victims often remain silent out of fear or shame. Community leaders, counselors and law enforcement agree: trafficking is happening and more than most realize. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Epoch Times
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
California Child Sex Trafficking Bill Passes Key Hurdle
California lawmakers in the Public Safety Committee gave their seal of approval on Tuesday morning to a bill that would crack down on consumers of the child sex trafficking industry. Assemblymembers Mia Bonta (D) and LaShae Sharp Collins (D) abstained from the vote. Assembly Bill 379, which targets buyers of commercial sex, was introduced by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D), who worked at the California Department of Justice and became known for prosecuting the operators of which was shut down in 2018 for facilitating sex trafficking and prostitution. Krell was elected to the Assembly last year. The bill proposes stricter penalties for soliciting minors and loitering to purchase sex. Late changes had to be made to keep the bill on the hearing calendar. Those changes entailed removing a provision that would have made it a felony to purchase 16- and 17-year olds. Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, a Democrat from Los Angeles, opposed the bill, Related Stories 4/28/2025 3/28/2025 AB-379, which was introduced in February, includes provisions to create a misdemeanor for loitering with the intent to solicit commercial sex, to impose fines as high as $25,000 for soliciting minors under 16, and to allow felony human trafficking charges for repeat offenders who buy sex from minors. The bill also looks to create a first-of-its-kind Survivor Support Fund. Money from the fund would go to community-based organizations led by survivors of human trafficking. The sponsor noted that support includes housing, mental health services, and job training. While introducing the bill to the committee, Krell said it would support victims and give law enforcement better tools to prosecute the buyers. 'Demand is the buyers,' she said. 'It is the rows of cars of men lined up on street corners to buy teenagers for sex,' she said. 'Without the buyers, we don't really have sex trafficking.' The bill drew support from the California District Attorneys Association, the California Police Chief Association, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, the City of Stockton, the Association for L.A. Deputy Sheriffs, the League of County Board of Supervisors, and more. The bill also reinstates penalties for offenses that were decriminalized by a 2022 California law, such as loitering with the intent to purchase a victim. Those convicted would face a misdemeanor and pay up to a $1,000 fine that would go toward the fund for survivors. Opponents, including survivors of child trafficking, focused on this aspect of the law in their testimony. Jess Torres, a child trafficking survivor and director of programs at Rising International, respectfully opposed the bill, saying it hinges on a vaguely defined suspicion of intent to do something criminal, rather than evidence. 'This bill will only escalate violence against survivors because persons who are trafficked in commercial sex are harmed when they operate in a criminalized environment,' Torres said. 'When buyers believe they are taking on greater risk, they often become more demanding, and that pressure frequently becomes compromising.' Leela Chapelle of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking also opposed the bill, arguing that loitering with intent laws harm communities they claim to protect and are unconstitutional. 'We do believe that this will cause the same issues that we have seen over and over again, that we spend our resources clearing the criminal records of survivors, that should not have happened in the first place—these criminal records that prevent them from lives of stability,' Chapelle said. Opposition also included the LA Public Defenders Union and the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. The bill is now due to advance on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee before it can advance to a full vote on the Assembly floor and the Senate.
