Jefferson County is battling sex trafficking, one child at a time

GOLDEN About 60 Jefferson County children most of them girls are either being sold for sex or at high risk of becoming sex-trafficking victims, the county district attorney's office says.

Those kids are being exploited not far from the public's view through Internet advertising sites and in motel rooms lining busy thoroughfares. Young girls living on the streets, many of whom are runaways from abusive homes and whose numbers are growing, have become "walking targets."

"That's unconscionable," said District Attorney Peter Weir. "We have an absolute responsibility to do what we can on behalf of those kids."

Weir's office last month created the first-of-its-kind unit for a Colorado district attorney's office aimed at helping at-risk children before they become victims. The office is partnering with police and representatives from the county's department of human services to battle child sex trafficking one case at a time.

Many law enforcement agencies in Colorado and across the country try to battle sex trafficking. What sets Jefferson County's unit apart from others is its progressive identification tool and a "team-based" approach of equal parts prevention and prosecution.

"We recognized that law enforcement, to a large extent, was not aware of the extent of the problem and did not have the resources to dedicate to addressing these issues," Weir said in an interview last week. "It does take some special expertise to investigate and some special expertise to prosecute."

Peter Weir says, "We have an absolute responsibility to do what we can on behalf of those kids." (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

The unit wants to set an example in Colorado at a time when trafficking is becoming more recognized and after new statutes went into effect in July aligning state laws with federal ones. Weir's office played a prominent role in the writing of those new statutes.

Too often, those trying to stop human trafficking struggle with poor interagency communication.

"I think what's great about the entire effort is that it is meant to be comprehensive," said Amanda Finger, executive director of the Denver-based Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. "Jefferson County is really piloting this to see how it will work, to see how it will support youth and to see if it is something that other counties throughout the state that can model."

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Jefferson County is battling sex trafficking, one child at a time