Job search turns to sex-trafficking scare
Being shoved into a trunk, gagged and sold for sex was not the fate of one Liberty University student as she avoided what could have possibly been a sex trafficking scheme.
Help — Klink, who spent her summer helping children in South Africa (pictured), had a scare with a sex-trafficking scandal on Craigslist. Photo provided
Elyse Klink, a resident advisor (RA) for dorm 81, was at risk of being picked up for human trafficking, she said.
Klink said that after applying to various baby sitting and nanny jobs on Craigslist.com, she received one reply that seemed too good to be true.
“I got a response from one of the ads within 24 hours….The pay was $400 a week, and I was basically able to set my own hours,” Klink said.
Klink and the woman continued to speak to each other via email and text messaging, but not once did Klink actually hear the woman’s voice, she said.
According to Klink, after asking several questions about the job to figure out an exact work schedule, the response she received was vague and seemed fishy.
According to Klink, after the woman did a supposed background check on her, she did not hear anything back for a while. Roughly a week later, another email came, this time with information on how to deposit a $2,750 check that was waiting for the RA. Klink noticed the check she received was from Washington state, but the envelope it came in was postmarked from Atlanta.
“I was extremely uncomfortable with the situation, so I brought it to LUPD the next day. They confirmed that it was a scam and that Craigslist was one of the largest sex trafficking hubs,” Klink said.
Since Klink’s situation could not be confirmed because of her not meeting with the woman, she said that the police told her it could be inferred due to the fact that she was told to meet at an obscure apartment complex.
“I was definitely a little shaken up … It shocked me to realize trafficking can occur even in a place like Lynchburg,” she said.
According to a study done by the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, more than 200,000 youth in the United States are at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial use. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that 1.2 million children are globally trafficked each year.
Having just attended the Passion 2012 conference, Klink said she learned a lot about sex trafficking and the threats it poses to society. It would have been easy for her to have been captured and taken advantage of had she not been educated, Klink said.
“The thought of what could have been was enough to make me feel exploited. The idea of having that taken away from me was scary more than anything else, but at the same time, the Lord has given me such a peace in knowing that whatever I go through, I can use it for God’s glory,” Klink said.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), between January 2008 and June 2010 federally funded task forces opened up 2,515 suspected incidents of human trafficking in the United States of America.
Seven percent of those investigations were for sex trafficking accusations.
“(This experience has) made me passionate about educating girls about trafficking, because we are so naïve about the reality of it,” Klink said.
This was not news when WSET reported it and it still isn’t now (but at least this story adds statistics to make it seem legitimate since trafficking is more relevant in our culture right now). Kudos for that!
Craigslist is full of scams. I received a check for $2700 in the mail when I sold a wedding dress through Craigslist. Instead of cashing it, I reported it to the bank and they linked it to a closed account and said people often get sellers to cash the check, spend the money, and then when the check bounces and they realize it was a bad check, the seller becomes responsible for paying the bank back the thousands of dollars the scammer roped them into cashing.
Now if my bank (or LUPD for that matter,) had told me I was almost trafficked for sex, could someone have managed a whole news story to support it? This is disappointing. The editor and advisor should not have allowed for this – there’s just no real evidence, whatsoever.
I’m embarrassed this was published.
Why should this not have been allowed? As you said, the statistics are posted, and the information about the incident came directly from Klink and LUPD. The author explains that the type of scam could not be confirmed, but it serves to caution readers — which is a worthy reason to run the story.
Also, there are differences between your scam and hers. It may be speculative, but your embarrassment here seems to be overstated.
Thank you for your comment, Ms. Jennifer. I appreciate your opinion, but I would have to disagree with you. I don’t know if you read many newspapers, or know much about news, but when an isolated event occurs that can bring light on an issue that is considered to be national or, in this case, global, then that one event is focused on and the bigger issue explained.
The fact of the matter is that this individual was very shaken up about the event, and the story was written to get the statistics out to our readers. If you do not believe sex trafficking to be a problem in society that is news worthy, then that is your opinion and you’re entitled to it, no matter how many people may disagree.
Nowhere in the article is it stated for fact that this woman was being victimized. LUPD said that was what was most likely happening, according to Klink. The statistics are there, which cannot be argued. The mere quantities of individuals who are trafficked each year makes it possible for this incident to occur to anyone. I pray that you never have to experience what these girls did, even if it is just a scare or the possibility of the event happening to you. If you would like to discuss anything further, then please contact me directly.
I have read the story and disagree with “sex trafficking” conclusions. My conclusions are based on many years in law enforcement. I deal with at least one of these scams every week. This is the typical send you a check to deposit and you send me back what you don’t use scam. The victim makes a deposit and sends back an amount, usually by money order. The check turns out to be fake and the victim is out the amount returned. Paul Cole LU’83
The issue was not necessarily the money, but the fact that they requested she go to a specific location with the money. It can be inferred from that fact that the scam was not just about the money.
Great website you got here! Please keep updating, I will def read more. It’ll be in my bookmarks so better update!