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Victims speak out about abuse
Victims speak out about abuse
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Two survivors of child sex trafficking are sharing their stories following a big weekend sex trafficking bust, during which 10 juveniles from Milwaukee were rescued. Both women grew up in poverty, both ran away from home, and both met men whom, at the beginning of the relationship, treated them well. But these women later realized they had been targeted.
Laura Johnson was 14 years old and living in Milwaukee when her 19-year-old boyfriend began selling her to his friends for sex.
"It`s like a dark dark, place. It was the darkest place of my life. He made it sound so good. He was like 'everybody's doing it,'" Johnson said.
For three years, Johnson lived with the man in hotel rooms, and was even advertised in an ad on Craigslist.
When she tried to leave, the man beat her and threatened her family.
"It was hard for me to come back because he knew where I lived. It was like he had all this planned out or something," Johnson said.
Johnson and other survivors of child sex trafficking aren't the least bit surprised by the results of a recent FBI sweep. The nationwide sting recovered 10 female juveniles in Milwaukee between the ages of 13 and 17.
Survivors say that's only a fraction of the kids being sold.
Denise Harris met her pimp when she was 14 in an arcade in Chicago. She was living on the streets and begging for change.
"Some young women will stay into the lifestyle because they figure that is the only way. All I knew, I needed some clothes and shoes because, you know, I was homeless," Harris said.
For the next four years, Harris was held against her will in a high-rise, by a man who threatened her with a gun and sold her for sex.
"He would beat me. He would leave me in the room. I couldn`t leave the house. He would lock the door," Harris said.
Both women eventually escaped.
Johnson snuck out of a hotel room in Oshkosh after a terrible beating, and Harris got away when her pimp was shot in a drug deal.
"I`m just here to let the young women know there is a better way," Harris said.
The women say they're sharing their stories, hoping other young women will learn from their darkest years.
"Going to a guy at such a young age is not worth it," Johnson said.
It took both women several years to recover. Both had serious drug addictions and needed to find a living without much of an education.
They found help at places like the Convergence Resource Center, and have both been clean for a few years now. Both have full-time jobs and families.
Johnson is expecting her second child.