Trinity Mount Ministries

Friday, July 30, 2021

DHS Releases New Resources to Combat Human Trafficking on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons  

 


Release Date: 
July 30, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today, on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released new resources aimed at combatting human trafficking and supporting victims.  The new resources include the first-ever Continued Presence Resource Guide to assist federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies in supporting victims of human trafficking and advancing trafficking investigations and prosecutions.  DHS is also releasing a fact sheet for the business community detailing criminal authorities used for prosecuting forced labor and related offenses in China.  The fact sheet appeals to victims and witnesses of forced labor and other human rights abuses to contact DHS.

“The Department of Homeland Security is leading the fight against the horrific practices of sex trafficking and forced labor,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas.  “As part of the Department’s victim-centered approach, we are committed to providing victims of these crimes, including noncitizen victims, support and necessary services and to seeking justice on their behalf.  Components, offices, and experts across the Department are part of this critical mission.  With the release of these new resources, we aim to support and inform law enforcement and businesses across the country, and to protect and assist victims of trafficking.”

Continued Presence is a temporary immigration designation provided by law enforcement to noncitizens who may be victims of human trafficking or may be witnesses in investigations, or have filed federal civil actions against their traffickers.  Continued Presence is granted in two-year increments and is renewable.  Recipients are also eligible for certain federal benefits and services.  Continued Presence helps to alleviate victims’ fears about removal, provides victims economic security, and improves victims’ ability to seek justice against their traffickers.  Learn more about the Continued Presence Resource Guide.

DHS is also releasing a fact sheet informing individuals and entities engaged in business in China of the risk of violating federal forced labor law.  This advisory cautions businesses that they are responsible for the labor practices in their supply chains and informs them of the federal laws for prosecuting forced labor and related offenses.  The fact sheet explains that one can face prosecution in U.S. courts and states that, “The federal crime of forced labor does not require that a defendant have imported into the United States any goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor.” 

DHS operates the Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT), led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  With 16 supporting offices and components, CCHT is a DHS-wide effort dedicated to bringing human traffickers to justice, protecting victims of sex trafficking and forced labor, and preventing these terrible crimes from occurring.

DHS is also home to the national public awareness campaign, the Blue Campaign.  The Blue Campaign educates the public, law enforcement, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders through partnerships, advertisements, and social media about the indicators of human trafficking and how to report it. 

Any victim of a federal crime, or a whistleblower or witness to a federal crime, may contact HSI by calling 866-347-2423 or completing a tip form.  A crime victim’s identifying information is protected from disclosure. HSI has Victim Assistance Specialists who can inform crime victims of their rights and ability to receive benefits and services. Informants may remain confidential and may be entitled to compensation, such as a Moiety award. 

Read the fact sheet on criminal authorities for enforcing forced labor.

Learn more about the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking

Learn more about the DHS Blue Campaign.

Learn more about T Nonimmigrant Status (“T Visa”) for victims of human trafficking.

Learn more about U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Trade, Forced Labor Program.

 

Last Published Date: July 30, 2021


Wednesday, July 28, 2021

FBI warns predators are targeting children playing video games

Help Find Missing Children. Let's Put An End To Child Abuse And Exploitation...Care.

The FBI warns predators are trying to take advantage of children playing video games.(WOIO)

By Sara Goldenberg

Published: Jul. 26, 2021 at 4:31 PM PDT

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The FBI is warning predators are targeting children.

Kids and teens spend hours over the summer playing video games, and they still have a few weeks left until back-to-school.

Video games can be a lot of fun, but 19 Investigates found sexual predators can be lurking anonymously behind the keyboard.

FBI New York released a PSA called “It’s Not a Game” urging parents to watch out for their children online.

“As soon as that instant message pops up on your child’s browser or on their smart phone, there could be a sexual predator on the other end. It takes only a few days—sometimes just hours—to groom your child into sending compromising photos to the person on the other end of that chat. Then the threats begin,” the FBI agent said in the video.

You can watch the PSA in full here.

We spoke with a local parent, Mallory Diebel, and her 11-year-old son Slade, who loves to play video games.

“I like that it’s a getaway from real life, where you can basically do whatever you want,” he said. Roblox and Minecraft keep him busy for hours.

His parents try to stay involved in what he’s playing.

“It’s a whole new world from when me and my husband were young and playing Sega and Nintendo,” she said. There has been one big change since then.

Users can message each other now, and that’s where the FBI warns threats can come in.

500,000 predators are active online every day, according to the FBI.

Kids ages 12 to 15 are most at risk.

Diebel wants to give Slade his independence when he’s playing.

But she continues to keep tabs on what he’s playing and who he’s talking to.

“We do check in with him every once and awhile to make sure he’s not giving anything private out about yourself, where we live, your name, if we’re home, not home, different things like that,” she said. She’s noticed many of the video games put in more parental controls and restrictions on chats.

But she still keeps an eye on public servers.

“When you’re talking about strangers and a person you see in front of you, it’s easy to say, they’re kind of giving me a weird feeling. Same thing that happens with online,” she said. So what can you do, besides set parental controls?

Experts say know your child’s ID and password and tell him or her you will randomly check them.

You can keep your child’s computer in an open area of your home.

But the best thing you can do is talk about the dangers together.

That’s something Diebel is already doing with her son.

“It’s just having those little, hard conversations that they may not want to have, but it’s still important to keep that communication open,” she said. We checked with the Cuyahoga County Internet Crimes Against Children task force to see how many cyber tips they’re getting so far this year.

The task force says it has gotten 6,393 cyber tips statewide through July 25.

They’re getting more cyber tips than last year at this time.

10,321 cyber tips came into the task force in 2020, setting a record.



Saturday, July 17, 2021

CyberTipline - NCMEC - Trinity Mount Ministries - Report Abuse! 1-800-843-5678


 Help Find Missing Children. Let's Put An End To Child Abuse...Care.


Overview

NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children. The public and electronic service providers can make reports of suspected online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the internet.

What Happens to Information in a CyberTip?

NCMEC staff review each tip and work to find a potential location for the incident reported so that it may be made available to the appropriate law-enforcement agency for possible investigation. We also use the information from our CyberTipline reports to help shape our prevention and safety messages.

Is Your Image Out There?

Get Support
One of the worst things about sextortion is feeling like you’re facing everything alone. But you have people who care for you and want to help. Reach out to them!
A trusted adult can offer advice, help you report, and help you deal with other issues. It could be your mom, dad, an aunt, a school counselor, or anyone you trust and are comfortable talking to. You can also “self report” by making a report on your own to the CyberTipline.
Don’t Give Up
Having a sexual exploitative image of yourself exposed online is a scary experience. It can make you feel vulnerable and isolated, but remember, others have been in the same situation as you – and they’ve overcome it. 

Learn the steps you can take to limit the spread of the content.


Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Sex assault accusers describe Bay Area coach’s ‘cult-like’ hold on them

Chioke Robinson faces 19 felony charges in sex assault case:

LOS GATOS – JULY 26: People space out and listen to speakers during a Stand for Survivor Solidarity event held on the football field of Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Sunday, July 26, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
LOS GATOS – JULY 26: People space out and listen to speakers during a Stand for Survivor Solidarity event held on the football field of Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif., on Sunday, July 26, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)

Sunday, July 11, 2021

7-years later in DC - Relisha Rudd is still missing...

Relisha Rudd is still missing, and police are still looking for her.


It has been seven years since the then 8-year-old Relisha Rudd went missing from a D.C. homeless shelter.
This ad will end in 23
 

WASHINGTON — July 11 is designated as Relisha Rudd Awareness Day.

The then 8-year-old girl went missing seven years ago on March 1, 2014, but wasn’t reported missing until 18 days later on March 19, 2014.

Relisha disappeared from a homeless shelter her family was staying at in Northeast D.C.

The young girl was last seen on surveillance video at a hotel with Kahlil Tatum, a 51-year-old janitor at D.C. General Family Shelter, the shelter her family was staying at.

Tatum’s wife was murdered in an Oxon Hill motel shortly after Relisha was reported missing.

RELATED: Relisha Rudd suspect Kahlil Tatum's Divorce papers

On April 1, 2014, Tatum was found dead at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, according to D.C. Police. It was later discovered that Tatum killed himself before he could be questioned by police. There was no sign of Relisha.

"We kind of failed Relisha Rudd on so many different levels, so many different people, from the community, from family, from government, law enforcement,” Henderson Long, a missing person’s advocate and CEO of D.C.’s Missing Voice said.


Credit: National Association of Missing and Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children along with the DC Metropolitan Police Department released a new age progression for Relisha Rudd.

“Always keep hope, never give up, never stop searching,” Long said. “My main message today (July 11) is that so anybody who knows anything, even if it’s the least little thing about the disappearance or the whereabouts of Relsiha Rudd to dial into MPD.”

If you know anything about Relisha’s disappearance or whereabouts, call 202-727-9099.

There is a $50,000 reward for information.

for information.

Saturday, July 10, 2021

Trinity Mount Ministries - Inside the FBI - Missing Children's Cases - Help Us Bring Them Home.

Help Find Missing Children. Let's Put An End To Child Abuse And Exploitation... Care.

 

Transcript:


Monica Grover: On May 25, 1979, 6-year-old Etan Patz left his house to go to school.  
 
Unfortunately, he never made it to his bus.  
 
Decades later, we’d learn that he was kidnapped and murdered that same day. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared May 25 National Missing Children’s Day in Etan’s memory. 
 
On the last episode of Inside the FBI, we gave you a look at how the FBI responds in the immediate aftermath of a child’s disappearance, and how parents can keep their families safe. 
 
But what happens when a child disappears for months or years? 

This time around, we’ll delve into some of our longtime missing children’s cases—because the FBI never forgets a missing kid, no matter how long they’ve been gone.  
 
We’ll also provide a window into our efforts to track down some of these children and explain how you can help us bring them home. 
 
I’m Monica Grover, and this is Inside the FBI. 

* * *

Grover: Arianna Fitts was only 2 years old when she was last seen in February 2016 in Oakland, California. We learned she was missing after the body of her mother, Nicole, was discovered in a San Francisco park that April.   
 
But since then, there have been no signs of Arianna, and Nicole’s killer remains unknown.  
 
Over the past five years, the FBI and the San Francisco Police Department have worked together to find Arianna and, hopefully, to bring Nicole’s killer to justice, too. Despite the passage of time, investigators are still actively searching for Arianna.  
 
According to Scott Schelble, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office, the FBI does everything in its power to find a missing child until they’re either found alive or their remains are recovered. 
 
Scott Schelble: It doesn’t matter if it has been one day, one week, five years, or 10 years. I think the American public expect that of us, and I think every parent would have that same expectation: that we are not going to give up looking for a child just because some time has passed.  
 
Grover: Investigations can get more complicated with time, but the same wait that can devastate victims’ families can also allow technological advances to emerge. We hope that one of these breakthroughs may move this case—and others—forward.  
 
Schelble: We do not look at Arianna’s disappearance as a cold case or as a case that is put onto a back burner. This is a case we are actively looking at, and it’s going to remain an active case until we are able to resolve it.

The FBI is working very closely with the San Francisco Police Department, and we are in this side-by-side to the conducting of interviews, the collecting of information, the analysis of forensic evidence, and following every lead until we are able to determine both what happened to Arianna, as well as what happened to Nicole, and to hold those people accountable.  
 
Grover: If you have any information about Arianna’s disappearance or Nicole’s murder, please contact the FBI San Francisco Field Office at (415) 553-7400 or visit tips.fbi.gov. Any piece of information may be helpful. 
 
Schelble: We want the public to remember every detail that they can and to share that information with us. No detail is unimportant. No detail is irrelevant. We are putting together a puzzle here, and every piece plays a critical role. So what we’re asking from the public, if you remember something—however innocuous it might seem—please contact us, even if you have previously talked with law enforcement. 

* * *

Grover: In 1974, Margaret Ellen Fox, then 14, placed an ad in her local newspaper offering her babysitting services for the summer. On June 24, she boarded a bus near her hometown of Burlington, New Jersey, to travel about 10 miles to the nearby town of Mount Holly. There, she planned to meet someone she thought was interested in hiring her as a babysitter. 
 
She never returned home. 
 
Not long after her disappearance, ransom notes arrived at the Fox family’s house, and an anonymous caller claiming to have Margaret in his custody demanded $10,000 in exchange for her safe return home. 
 
We’re gonna play that audio for you.
 
Man’s voice on recording: $10,000 might be a lot of bread, but your daughter’s life is the buttered topping. 

Grover: According to Special Agent Bradley Zartman—who is working on Margaret’s case 47 years later—investigators traced the foreboding phone call to a local A&P supermarket. However, the caller’s identity remains unknown to this day. 
 
Despite these early setbacks, the FBI and the local police have never forgotten Margaret, and they’ve spent nearly five decades trying to figure out what happened to her.  
 
Bradley Zartman: So while it’s been 47 years, we're not gonna stop looking for her, we’re not gonna stop trying to understand what may have happened. And while it may get harder and harder each year, I'm hoping with new inventions in forensic science and those sort of things, maybe we can reanalyze, keep poring through the case, and figure out some new avenues in order to pursue what may have happened. 
 
Grover: Her community hasn’t forgotten her, either. In fact, Burlington citizens talk about Margaret regularly. As the city’s police chief, John Fine, told us: 
 
John Fine: I think that this is an open wound that the city would love to be healed. In Burlington City, this is still often talked about when you walk into a local diner or a local pizza shop.

This past week I went into the local deli, and her poster of being missing is still posted on the board and at the counter still today in Burlington City, where the deli is located around the corner from her house.

There’s still family that are local. We still keep in touch with the brother, who always wanted to know what happened to his sister. And as a parent, we always think about, if this was my daughter or if this was my sister, that in the event that she is passed away, that we could give her a proper burial. 
 
Grover: If you think you have any information on Margaret’s disappearance, please contact the FBI’s Newark Field Office at (973) 792-3000 or tips.fbi.gov. The bureau is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of anyone who may be responsible for Margaret’s disappearance. 

Zartman: Literally every day, if not year, the people that were alive and in the area at that time are no longer here. We lose people, and, you know, along with them, we could lose witnesses, we could lose facts, we could lose that evidence. So, just as the chief said, every little bit of information that someone has, no matter how minute or far-fetched it might seem, we’ll look into it.  

* * *

Grover: On June 4, 2010, 7-year-old Kyron Richard Horman vanished after attending a science fair at Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, that morning. He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt with the letters “CSI” and a handprint graphic across the front. 
 
In mere hours, the FBI joined the hunt for Kyron, explains Case Agent Brendan Dennard. 
 
Brendan Dennard: Since that first night, the FBI has partnered with the lead investigative agency, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, to help find Kyron. In those early days of the case, the FBI provided dozens of agents to help do neighborhood canvasses and interviews.

Over the next few weeks and months, we also brought in specially trained agents from the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment—or CARD—team, digital forensic experts, and crisis management experts to support the large influx of information and tips.  
 
Grover: The FBI has also supported the search for Kyron by providing backup from its Behavioral Analysis Unit and signal-boosting national publicity initiatives, he said.   
 
The Bureau’s wide-ranging network of special agents—who are based across the country and around the globe—has enabled the FBI to vet tips from beyond Kyron’s backyard, he added. 
 
Dennard: Everyone who has worked on this case for the past decade has one overriding goal: to bring Kyron home. Kyron and his family deserve no less than that. 
 
It doesn’t matter whether you are a detective, deputy, officer, prosecutor, or an FBI agent—that need to find Kyron and provide answers to his family is something we all deeply feel. 
 
Grover: If you have any information about Kyron’s disappearance, contact the FBI Portland Field Office at (503) 224-4181 or tips.fbi.gov

* * *

Grover: On the last episode of Inside the FBI, we mentioned that “stranger danger” abductions are relatively rare—and that abducted children are most often taken by someone they know or their family knows.  And in some cases, it’s the child’s very own parent that does the kidnapping. In these parental kidnappings, one parent illegally denies the other parent access to their own child.  
 
Parental kidnappings can happen within the U.S., but they get more complicated when a mom or dad takes their child overseas. That parent may think they’ve evaded the grasp of American law, but that’s not always the case. The FBI has international offices—known as legal attachés—and can join forces with host-country authorities to track down missing children and reconnect them with their parents back home. 
 
One such case that we’ve been tracking for years is that of Amina and Belel Kandil. 
 
When 10-year-old Amina and her 8-year-old brother Belel left their Virginia home with their father, Ahmed Kandil, in August 2014, they thought they were flying to Canada to visit family—but instead, he took them to Turkey. A warrant is out for Ahmed’s arrest. 
 
FBI Special Agent Stacey Sullivan, who’s working the case out of our Norfolk, Virginia office, said the Bureau has thoughts on the teenagers’ current whereabouts.  
 
Stacey Sullivan: We do have quite a few ideas of where they could be. We have narrowed it down and believe them primarily to be with their father, yes. We don’t believe he would let them out of his sight at this point. And his father has very strong family ties to include his own parents, as well as some other relatives that reside in Egypt, so based on everything so far, potentially, we believe they are in Egypt. 
  
Grover: Sullivan is working closely with the FBI’s legal attaché office in Egypt and the U.S. State Department to track down the siblings. And although Amina and Belel have been missing for almost seven years—presumably overseas—the FBI is still committed to finding them.  
 
Sullivan said their mother’s anguish has amplified the personal significance of closing this case. 
 
Sullivan: I see the turmoil that she has to encounter. She writes to them every single day in a journal, letting them know how much she misses them and that she’s never stopped looking for them.

We never know what they’ve been told or what they believe now, having been separated from her for so long. So, it’s important for me, also, for them to know that their mother never gave up and that they can have communication again with her and rebuild that relationship that was taken from them. 
 
Grover: If you have any information regarding Amina and Belel, you can contact the FBI Norfolk Field Office at (757) 455-0100 or send us a tip at tips.fbi.gov.  
 
Sullivan: We have had various tips come in over the years, and we have traced them all down, so the tip line has been very productive for us. 
 
Grover: Sullivan encourages people to especially keep an eye out for them online, and to keep in mind that they might even be going by different names. 
 
Sullivan: I’m sure, with this day and age, a lot of people are online. They may have different identities online, but if they were to see them or think they saw them, any tip would be gratefully appreciated. 
 
Grover: Tips like these could be crucial to helping us find Amina and Belel and put them back in contact with their mother, who misses them and wants to know they are safe. 

* * * 

Grover: Thanks for joining us as we learned how the FBI is pressing on to reunite families that have been torn apart by child abductions for years—or even decades.  
 
For photos and more information about Arianna, Margaret, Kyron, and Amina and Belel, plus other missing kids we’re still searching for, please visit fbi.gov/missing2021.  
 
If you have any information about any of these children, please contact us at tips.fbi.gov or call your local FBI field office.  

This has been another production of Inside the FBI. You can follow us on your favorite podcast player, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts. You can also subscribe to email alerts about new episodes at fbi.gov/podcasts

I’m Monica Grover from the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs. Thanks again for tuning in.