Teen suicide spurs war on child prostitution
Mickey Goodman
ATLANTA
At the age of 15, Samantha Walker was lured into prostitution on
the streets of Toledo, Ohio, then taken against her will to
Atlanta.
U.S.
What makes her story different from thousands of others is that
she testified against one of the men who paid for sex with her,
helping to send him to prison.
But just weeks after the trial she took an overdose of drugs she
was taking for depression and died at the age of 18.
More than 300,000 children are being sexually exploited in the
United States, according to a study by the University of
Pennsylvania.
Many of them end up in Atlanta, which authorities say has become
a hub for prostitution in part because its busy airport makes it
a destination for men seeking sex.
Where in the past pimps advertised the girls who worked for them
on the walls of men's rest rooms or on street corners, these days
they use online bulletin boards like craigslist
(www.craigslist.org/).
Customers set up liaisons after seeing girls on the sites, and
then pay the girl or the pimp directly on the street, according
to the Atlanta Police Vice Department.
Solomon Gort, a married man with two children, a white-collar job
and a home in Atlanta's suburbs, offered Walker's pimp $50 for
oral sex with her in June 2004.
He forced her to have intercourse at a highway rest stop, then
took her against her will to a motel, from which she escaped and
called the police. Gort was convicted of false imprisonment and
soliciting sex with a minor and sentenced to six years in prison.
NO SPACE AT SHELTER
After the trial, Walker wanted to stay in Atlanta, but returned
to Toledo partly because the only facility in the southeastern
United States for former child prostitutes, Angela's House
outside Atlanta, had no space.
Confronting a hometown where she first worked as a prostitute,
she committed suicide.
"The courts don't have the resources for kids like
Samantha," said Debra Espy, the deputy district attorney who
worked with Walker. "It's a national disgrace."
Walker is just one of many who have been lured into prostitution
by pimps who exploit the fears and low self esteem of young girls
who often come from dysfunctional families.
Nykita Hurt, a middle-class professional with a gentle voice, is
still in turmoil after her daughter, Brandi, ran away from home
in 1998 at the age of 14 to become a prostitute in Atlanta.
"I spend a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of unproductive
days," Hurt said. "You just think, 'Where is my
child?'"
Brandi grew up with a slight disability and low self-esteem. In
1998, she met a man on a telephone chat line. One day, when Hurt
was at work, he came to their house and had sex with Brandi.
"Shortly after that, whoever this guy was pretty much talked
her into it. He saw how immature she was and that there was
conflict between us and he took advantage of that," Hurt
said.
Now Brandi only calls when she needs money.
NOT IN MY CITY
For law enforcement authorities in Atlanta, Walker's courage and
suicide have made her a heroine, and they are using her story to
spur new efforts to crack down on child predators.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is leading a drive against child
prostitution under the banner of a "No more, not in my
city."
Prosecutors have started to bring felony rather than misdemeanor
charges against men who use child prostitutes.
"When a child is involved, we can no longer politely call
these men 'johns.' They are panderers, child molesters and
felons," said Paul Howard, district attorney of Fulton
County, which includes downtown Atlanta.
Franklin wrote to craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Chief
Executive Jim Buckmaster in August, urging them to remove
postings of women engaged in activity that broke Georgia law and
called on other mayors to file similar protests.
Buckmaster said the company "shares Mayor Franklin's
concerns and are evaluating her suggestions."
The site warns its users that it prohibits illegal activity but
he added: "We do not monitor the content of more than 25
million free postings craigslist users self-publish each
month."
Since Walker's death, Georgia's human resources department has
announced it will open a 52-bed center for sexually-exploited
girls in Dekalb County, east of Atlanta, this year to help girls
emerging from prostitution.
Facing such problems such as sexually-transmitted diseases, drug
and alcohol addiction, low self esteem and lack of education, few
former child prostitutes lead productive lives and many go back
on the streets or wind up in prison.
One exception is "Anna" who testified against her pimp
Andrew Moore in Atlanta in 2002 in a federal trial.
Anna, whose real name has not been released, told a court another
pimp sold her to Moore when she was 12 years old. He tied her
spread-eagled to a bed in his home for two weeks before she was
rescued by an aunt.
Moore was convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
For Espy, the deputy district attorney who worked with Walker and
grew to care about her, the focus is now on trying to get other
girls off the streets.
"She died a sudden death. Other vulnerable young girls are
dying inch by inch," Espy said.
(Editing by Matthew Bigg and Eddie Evans)
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0736630420071128