The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested eight alleged prostitutes in the Bryan/College Station area as part of an ongoing effort to combat human trafficking in Texas. The department’s goal is to find women who are being forced into sexual servitude and help them find a way out.
The eight women, aged 18-33, were arrested as part of a sting operation, according to a KAGS-TV report by Aleksandra Bush. The girls were found through online advertising where they offered some form of sexual services.
Bush reported the operation’s goal is to help find those how are either forcing or compelling the women into prostitution and help these potential human trafficking victims find a way out.
Still Creek Ranch, a non-profit group dedicated to helping these victims, said this can make a huge impact in the lives of these women. “They’ve been abused by all of the people in their life that are supposed to love them so they are very hardened and don’t always understand that what they’ve done isn’t healthy, isn’t the appropriate life style,” Chloe Bush, the marketing director at Still Creek Ranch, told KAGS.
Four of the women arrested were from the Bryan/College Station area. One was from as far away as Amarillo, Texas.
Chloe Bush told KAGS many of the girls they help were told into slavery by their parents or they ran away from an unstable home. They usually find their way to someone who forces or tricks them into prostitution. Many times, these girls can be as young as 12-14 years old.
Still Creek Ranch’s “Restore Her” program is targeted at underage girls who have been rescued sex-trafficking and prostitution, or those who are “at risk.” They also rescue girls who have been exposed to commercial or private sexploitation, according to their website.
Still Creek Ranch also operates a private, Christian-based accredited school that helps other children in crisis by applying Christian education practices.
“Texas is a primary hub for human trafficking and Restore Her is committed to leading the nation in not only rescuing these victims, but also seeing their lives change through a quality, Christian education,” the website states. “We offer long-term hope and healing to our girls through a safe, God-centered environment.”
As to the DPS operation in central Texas, “It’s vital that law enforcement are doing investigations and trying to find the people who are pulling these women and girls into these situations,” Bush told KAGS.
“We teach them that they can do things that their past does not keep them from accomplishing things in life and now we have girls that are going to college and want to be medical missionaries and want to work in law enforcement so they can combat trafficking from a more powerful position,” she concluded.
Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and on Facebook.