Human trafficking may be on the rise in Connecticut after police rescued four women who were being held against their will over the course of two days. Two arrests were made this past week in two separate human trafficking cases. It has not been released whether or not the cases are connected, however, they do not appear to be.
On Wednesday Aug. 26, Brandon Williams, a 34-year-old from Waterbury, Connecticut was arrested for kidnapping and trafficking a 17-year-old girl in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The teen resides in Bridgeport and was targeted by Williams and brought to a nearby motel. Police discovered Williams and the girl when they reported to an incident at a Sunnyside Inn on Lake Street. The teen was brought to Yale-New Haven Hospital where she was released in stable condition. She is now under the care of the Department of Children and Families here in Connecticut. As for Williams, he is facing jail time for violating probation as well as additional charges. His bail has been set at $50,000.
The next day, Thursday, Aug. 27, 36-year-old Barry Davis was arrested at a motel in Milford, Connecticut when he was caught holding three women against their will. Davis picked up two women on the street in Burlington Massachusetts, where he lives, and kidnapped a third on his way down to Milford. Davis drugged the women using heroin as well as cocaine before bringing them to a Motel 6 on Schoolhouse Road where he forced them into prostitution. Massachusetts police tracked a cell phone belonging to one of the women after her boyfriend reported receiving a text that she was being held against her will as a “slave.” When the police arrived at the motel two of the women admitted to working as prostitutes for Davis in the past stating that they were afraid of him. Davis is being charged with second-degree unlawful restraint, promotion of prostitution, trafficking of a human and two counts possession of narcotics. His bail has been set at $250,000.
According to the statistics from the Trafficking Resource Center Organization, human trafficking has actually decreased in Connecticut since the year 2007 despite these two arrests. In 2007, there were a total of 156 cases of human trafficking with anywhere from 158 to 183 total victims. Human trafficking has seen a massive decline with only 19 reported cases this year out of 61 calls to hotlines. Sex trafficking is the most common form of trafficking in Connecticut with 13 of the 19 reported cases falling into that category. As for the remaining six cases, five were classified as labor trafficking, and one was classified as a combination of both sex and labor trafficking.
Following these unfortunate events, the Connecticut Coalition Against Trafficking urges citizens to be aware of the many signs of human trafficking. Their website offers a detailed list of the signs of trafficking as well as involvement opportunities and a help hotline.
