Spotlight on “A Hidden Crime” – Human Trafficking

A “hidden crime that’s right in your face,” is how presenters of a webinar Wednesday described human trafficking. Raising awareness about human trafficking, the forms it appears in, who perpetrates and who suffers was the goal of the virtual session put on by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council.

A two-hour discussion followed, with five presenters covering different aspects of the topic. The Virgin Islands Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shared their experiences with human trafficking encounters. A former V.I. lawmaker explained why he sponsored a bill to make human trafficking a crime. And the territory’s top prosecutors spoke about the things they learned while preparing cases and bringing them to court.

“This is one of the most complex crimes we prosecute and investigate,” said U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands Gretchen Shappert.

V.I. Attorney General Denise George said her first experience with cases of this kind came in 2019 with the widely publicized Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, where most allegations of wrongdoing took place on Little St. James Cay. The case is now being pursued as a criminal enterprise and racketeering offense in the civil court.

From there, she said, her subject matter knowledge grew into an understanding of human trafficking not only for sexual exploitation but also involving forced labor. George said there was one more profound revelation as her understanding grew.

While conversations about Epstein’s exploits led some to suggest the territory was a haven for newcomers seeking to freely abuse girls and young women, the problem was neither new nor imported. “Human trafficking has been alive and well here for years, unfortunately,” the attorney general said.

St. Croix Administrator Sammuel Sanes said he also shared conversations involving misconceptions about human trafficking. They came during his term in the Legislature while attempting to enact a law against it. It took time to convince some colleagues that the problem existed at all, he said.