Human Trafficking Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Cyber SWAT Program Training Coming To W.Va. Students

The lessons focus on using social media and chat rooms safely and the risks of sharing personal sexual material.

A bill signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice this week creates enhanced cyber safety training for West Virginia students.

The educational program will soon be available to third through twelfth graders statewide. Senate Bill 466 is known as the Cyber SWAT program. That’s short for Safety While Accessing Technology.

The lessons focus on using social media and chat rooms safely and the risks of sharing personal sexual material.

Will Thompson, the U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District, said children in the state are becoming human trafficking, sextortion or financial crime victims on almost a daily basis.

“With some of them, you’re upset because somebody’s lost a couple hundred dollars,” Thompson said. “Add on even being more upset, because someone’s gotten sex trafficked or something of that nature.”

Thompson said Cyber SWAT lessons include the same things he shares with his own children, especially his 13-year-old. He said cyber safety tips will create simple awareness.

“You don’t chat with anyone that you don’t know in real life,” Thompson said. “If someone tries to friend you on a social media site that you don’t know, stay away.”

Thompson said he sees a lot of children who will be asked either by other children or by bad actors to share compromising photos of themselves. He said the wrong-doing for teens is not always obvious.

“There’s a way of trying to teach that even though it’s a 17-year-old asking for a picture of a 15-year-old, that’s a federal crime, we can’t be doing that,” Thompson said.

The program will teach students the legal and personal consequences of sharing sexually suggestive or explicit material. It also sets up potential collaborations between school districts, law enforcement and other entities.

The program provides student resources with contact information if encountering suspicious or dangerous activity.

Thompson said the cyber safety program, with all of its facets, has lofty, yet reachable goals.

“We might be able to stop somebody from being human traffic,” Thompson said. “We might be able to stop somebody from sending compromising photos, stop somebody from becoming a victim of the sextortion scam.”

The law requires school districts to implement the program for the 2025-2026 school year.

Further Reducing Unemployment Numbers In W.Va.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, West Virginia, like most of the country, is enjoying record setting low unemployment numbers after the coronavirus pandemic. Briana Heaney sat down with Josh Sword, president of West Virginia’s AFL-CIO, and Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison, to discuss two bills that would reduce unemployment benefits in the state.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, West Virginia, like most of the country, is enjoying record setting low unemployment numbers after the coronavirus pandemic. Briana Heaney sat down with Josh Sword, president of West Virginia’s AFL-CIO, and Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison, to discuss two bills that would reduce unemployment benefits in the state.

Also, we’re in the final two weeks of the 2024 state legislative session. All bills, except for the budget bill, must be out of their chamber of origin by the end of the day Wednesday to give time to consider the bill. This is called Crossover Day.

In the House Monday, lawmakers passed bills on third reading altering the state’s definition of human trafficking and a separate bill increasing leniency over youth vaccination. Jack Walker has the story.

In the Senate, the chamber passed and advanced bills concerning marital sexual assault and unemployment benefits. Briana Heaney has the story.

Finally, it was Nursing Day at the Capitol. Bob Brunner spoke with nurses about the challenges they face, and he spoke with a leader who runs a retreat for nurses who are burned out.

Having trouble viewing the video below? Click here to watch it on YouTube.

The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

House Debate On Human Trafficking Bill Notes Immigration Crisis

The proposal defines “illegal alien” and “human smuggling,” noting that people being transported, or harbored, are, under the bill’s terminology, illegal aliens. Smugglers either knowingly transport these individuals into West Virginia or transport and harbor those already in West Virginia.

Human traffickers may face new penalties for smuggling humans into West Virginia if a bill on third reading in the House of Delegates Monday, House Bill 5031, becomes law.

Human smuggling does not include any person hired by another state who transports an undocumented immigrant through West Virginia, so long as that person will not remain in West Virginia.

The bill also states that victimized undocumented workers are not eligible for restitution.

House Democrats like Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, opposed the bill, concerned over unfair victim treatment, and unintended consequences for a possible Good Samaritan.

“We’re talking about the difference between a Good Samaritan situation,” Garcia said. “Somebody gives somebody a ride, when they know that that person might be an illegal immigrant, versus when somebody puts another person in a situation for sexual exploitation, for other types of damages that they can do to hurt that person. And that penalty is going to be exactly the same in each situation. And that’s just a matter of fundamental unfairness right there.”

Del. Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock, was among the House Republican supermajority that supported the bill they said helps combat a national immigration crisis.

“It’s very important for people to understand that the smuggling of illegal aliens, such as what’s happening along the border, in certain instances, is nothing less than the reintroduction of slavery to the United States,” Zatezalo said. “People basically are indentured servants who come here and they have to give their money to whoever their smugglers are. I don’t think this country can afford that. I don’t think we need to go back to those days. God knows we’ve had enough trouble with that. It’s something that I feel very strongly about. And I wish when we vote on this bill, we all think about that.”

Under the bill’s penalties, someone who smuggles an adult, or assists in smuggling an adult, is guilty of a felony. upon conviction they would be sentenced to 3-15 years, and fined up to $200,000, or both. For a minor, the penalties run 5-20 years, with fines up to $300,000, or both.

HB 5031, the human trafficking bill, passed 83-13 and now goes to the Senate.

Senate Bill Would Require Hotels To Provide Human Trafficking Training

Senate Bill 472 would require West Virginia hotels to provide human trafficking awareness training and resources to their staff members. The bill will now be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A bill under discussion in the West Virginia Senate would require hotel owners to provide their staff training on human trafficking awareness.

Senate Bill 472 would require hotel employees who interface with guests, like reception and housekeeping staff, complete an annual training on identifying and reporting human trafficking.

The bill would also require employers to display a human trafficking awareness sign within their venues, with the phone number of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center featured prominently on it.

If the bill passes as written, hotels would be required to comply with the new standards by 2025 or face a fine of $2,000 per day of noncompliance.

Some lawmakers expressed concern over the severity of the fine at a meeting of the Senate Government Organization Committee on Tuesday, including Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley.

“I mean, that’s a pretty hefty fine at $2,000,” he said.

Also during the meeting, Richie Heath, executive director of the West Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, told committee members that many corporate hotel chains already offer human trafficking awareness resources through the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

“Human trafficking has been a big issue, especially in the last several years,” he said. “There’s been a lot of emphasis on this in the industry.”

If the bill advances further in the Senate, Heath said that West Virginia hotel staff would benefit from flexibility in training curricula so that they would not have to undo training protocols already in place.

Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, said that providing these resources comes at a cost, and also pointed to a lack of data clarifying how effective these resources would actually be for hotel staff in the state.

“Although there aren’t substantial costs to this, there are more costs, right? More burdens of government to spend, whether it’s signage, whether it’s an area that needs to be designated, whether it’s a training program,” Stuart said.

“It just eats into that profitability,” he continued. “Perhaps not for Marriott or Hilton, but for Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s bed-and-breakfast.”

Despite the debate, committee members unanimously voted to refer the bill to the Senate with the recommendation that it pass, but only after an additional review by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Training In Recognizing Human Trafficking Offered

Not everyone understands what human trafficking is and what it isn’t. But a special training opportunity Thursday morning will explain the differences.

United States Attorneys Will Thompson and William Ihlenfeld will jointly host a human trafficking training event on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at locations in Charleston and Wheeling as well as virtually.

The joint training event is called Human Trafficking: Facts, Fiction, and Federal Law. It will feature participation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Pittsburgh Division, the West Virginia Fusion Center, the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (FRIS), the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network and Angie Conn, a human trafficking survivor, victim advocate and founder of SheWhoDares Consulting LLC.

WHERE:

Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1114 Virginia Street East, Charleston

St. Michael Catholic Church Angelus Center, 1225 National Road, Wheeling

To register call 304-234-7743 or use the QR code below.

Human Trafficking, Manchin’s Decision Not To Rerun And A Gas Outage, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, we learned about human trafficking in the state. We heard from U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., about his decision not to run again for the U.S. Senate. We also heard from community members on the West Side in Charleston facing the natural gas outage.

On this West Virginia Week, we learned about human trafficking in the state.

We heard from U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., about his decision not to run again for the U.S. Senate.

We also heard from community members on the West Side in Charleston facing the natural gas outage.

Briana Heaney is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.