A 29 year old Tulsa man traveled 130 miles to Carthridge, Missouri to meet what he thought was a 13 year old girl that he had been communicating with online. It was not a real girl, but undercover internet crime operatives posing as a girl to lure predators out. The Tulsa man has no previous convictions or sex crimes on his record, yet he took duct tape and a loaded gun to meet her. See news report at "Recent Reports".

Experts say that Houston has more problems with child sex trafficking than any other city in our nation. Oklahoma's close proximity to Texas and the I-35 corridor connecting us relates in traffickers passing though our state and our cities with victims. See news report: http://www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou090410_mp_sex-trade-warning.c0e77435.html

A child is reported missing every 40 seconds in America. That is 2000 per day or 800,000 per year... and an estimated 500,000 are not reported. In 1999, a report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed that 1,682,900 youth were runaways or throwaways. A new report by the Department of Justice shows evidence that 300,000 of these children are at risk each year of commercial sex trafficking. This is not a minor issue in our society... it not just the poor or minorities, it is not just troubled kids... we have an epidemic of child abuse that must stop.

That according to the FBI for 2008. If you look at Craigslist today for Tulsa and Oklahoma City you will find 735 adds of young women being sold for sex. It is no longer a distant problem! It is right here in our own backyard. Not all of those listed on Craigslist are minors, but when underage girls are offered for commercial sex it is a federal violation of child sex trafficking punishable by 20 years to life in prison. Children are not prostitutes... thay are a commodity of perverse men that drive this market. See Fox News report by Tulsa correspondent Abbie Alford: http://www.fox23.com/content/solvingproblems/story/Online-Sex-For-Sale/GwqPO79BNE2vU6RWF39J4w.cspx