WEST POINT — Ashlee Lucas gets a call from a young man in New York saying one of his friends – a 21-year-old woman – is being trafficked, and the trafficker plans to kill the victim that evening.
Six hours later, Mississippi Bureau of Investigations agents find the friend in Canton. Her eyes are swollen shut. She’s been beaten. But she survived. Once agents convince her they are real, they bring her to safety.
“With all of those agents there, five agents with their credentials, she thought it was a trick by her trafficker to see if she would run,” Lucas, statewide human trafficking coordinator for MBI, said Friday night at the Ritz in West Point. “And so, my agent pulled out his phone and showed her the email I had sent him with all the information. And he said when I showed her that, she just doubled over and started sobbing, because she realized this was for real and she was actually going to get away from this guy.”
This was one of many stories of human trafficking Lucas shared with a crowd gathered for Artists Against Trafficking, presented by Country Outdoors.
The faith-based event brought together Nashville singer-songwriters Mo Pitney, Conner Sweeny and Paxton Peay playing original music, with West Point artist Deborah Mansfield painting live. Country Outdoors lifestyle brand and Artists Against Trafficking founder Mary O’Neill Phillips said the series uses the gifts and talents of artists to support grassroots nonprofits leading the charge against human trafficking.
“The artists that are involved are all involved because they have Christ in their hearts for this purpose, for this mission,” Phillips said.
Friday’s benefit was designed to raise awareness around the subject while also supporting the Golden Triangle Dream Center’s future residential rescue program for victims of sex trafficking – Hope’s Journey. Dream Center Executive Director Cole Bryan said the event will help with the “birth” of the safe house project – filling a gap the Dream Center sees for victims of the crime in this area.
“In the state of Mississippi, there aren’t too many resources for individuals that are survivors of human trafficking or being currently victimized, and we want to be a part of that,” Bryan said. “And it’s going to take a lot of people coming together for us to create a safe house for survivors and victims.”
After a failed bid to base the residential program at the Mississippi Sheriffs Boys and Girls Ranch on Motley Road earlier this year, the exact location of the potential safe house is still in the works, Bryan said.
What is human trafficking?
When it comes to human trafficking, Lucas said, there are many misconceptions about how it appears that make it easier to ignore real cases. But by definition, human trafficking is using force, fraud or coercion to subject someone into involuntary servitude or forced acts and labor.
While human trafficking can involve crossing state or international lines, it doesn’t always, she said. And it doesn’t always look like chained up hands or children in cages.
“When we sensationalize human trafficking, what happens is, community members don’t see the kids,” Lucas said. “You know who we need to be looking at? We need to be looking at kids in juvenile justice. We need to be looking at our kids in the classroom, the ones acting out the most.”
In 2023, MBI investigated 192 claims of human trafficking in Mississippi, with 185 of those related to sex trafficking, six to labor trafficking and one case involving both, Lucas said. The majority of sex cases her team investigates involve familial trafficking, where a family member or other familiar person is involved, she said.
“This could be mom has a drug addiction, and boyfriend moves in, and he’s paying the rent, he’s buying the groceries, and in exchange, she has to turn her head because he’s going to rape that child,” Lucas said. “And he’s also going to take that child and sell that child to other people. We get those reports all the time.”
Other kinds of sex trafficking include pimp-controlled, gang-controlled and survival trafficking, Lucas said, though those are rarer in Mississippi.
When her team receives a tip about a case of trafficking, Lucas said, they not only investigate, but they bring along a victim advocate and a sexual assault nurse on all of their operations, to ensure victims’ medical, physical and shelter needs are addressed. Child victims are remanded into the custody of the state, while Lucas’s team tries to help adult victims choose their path forward.
In 2023, Lucas said there were 227 victims of human trafficking reported in the state. MBI and other law enforcement made 31 arrests for human trafficking related offenses, and 10 suspects were found guilty, pleaded guilty or accepted a plea agreement, she said.
“No town is immune,” Lucas said. “This is throughout our state.”
A threat that is becoming more apparent over time, Lucas said, is the presence of technology in the lives of young people. Lucas encouraged those in attendance to have frank conversations with their children about the dangers of human trafficking early, since her unit has seen cases of young people running away to people they believe they can trust.
“Why is a young woman in New York being trafficked by a guy from Canton, Mississippi?” Lucas asked. “It’s in that device.”
To report human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, call 1 (888) 373-7888 or text BEFREE (233733) and have the option to remain anonymous. Other instructions for reporting abuse and trafficking can be found at dps.ms.gov/humantrafficking/get-help.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
