Sex Trafficking in America

I firmly second this opinion, and have had great experiences working with local law enforcement in Florida on the trafficking of children. Sex Trafficking in America Published: April 29, 2012 “Not Quite a Teen, Yet Sold for Sex,” by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, April 19), performs an important service by bringing to public attention the thousands of teenagers, both girls and boys, trapped in the most heinous kind of child exploitation in American cities. This persistent and growing problem gets scant attention yet threatens the well-being and the very lives of children from coast to coast. But Mr. Kristof’s criticism of police departments is misguided. In more than 30 years of working on this problem from New York to Dallas to Los Angeles, I have known of no group more committed to the well-being of exploited, under-age teenagers than the designated units of police departments. They are often the only island of safety and sanity and the unsung heroes to hundreds of children. Financing for these divisions is often weak at best. JEFFREY NEWMAN President and Executive Director National Child Labor Committee