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  • 2016-02-25 (xsd:date)
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  • Amanda in Longview Trafficking Claim (en)
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  • On 19 February 2016, a Facebook user published the above status claiming her child was recently the target of at attempted sex-trafficking scam in an unnamed store in Longview, Texas. (One commenter claimed it was a Walmart, but the original poster didn't confirm that.) Rumors about sex traffickers trawling retail establishments flourished in mid-2015, but went dormant after a relatively active period of novel claims. In May 2015, a Facebook user fronted a similar claim of trafficking rings descending upon an Oklahoma Hobby Lobby store; in June, Twitter users warned others of sex slavery rings targeting college kids during summer job interviews; in that same month, the theme park abduction urban legend resurfaced; then a harrowing tale of heroin-armed purported teenaged assailants working out of the bathroom of a Denton, Texas, Dillards department store circulated across the same channels; a Hickory, North Carolina woman claimed human trafficking rings were menacing the parking lots of Walmarts to locate new victims; and a Long Island Target was briefly cited as the locale of similar kidnappers in August 2015. Taken at face value, nothing in Amanda from Longview's account matched with known operating habits of sex or human trafficking rings, and none of what she recalled was specifically enough to raise red flags. The incident didn't sound unlike many interactions experienced by parents of young children in public. Police in Longview posted a status update about the claim shortly thereafter, which read: We contacted Longview police about the claim on 25 February 2016. They told us that the department reviewed surveillance video and that the interaction in question lasted approximately two seconds. Police were sympathetic to the mother's fears but said that the incident was inconsistent with genuine reports of labor or sex trafficking. The clip was passed on to state law enforcement for further review, but police in Longview did not indicate parents need worry about stranger danger in the area (at least, not more than usual). The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has a FAQ about human trafficking that provides useful information on the problem and who is at risk. We attempted to contact the original author of the post to find out more about the incident but have not yet received a response. (en)
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