"God allows U-turns." -- Kathi Torres

By Miriam Raftery

View video interview by clicking image, right

February 26, 2023 (San Diego) – Kathi Torres with Freedom from Exploitation, an organization that helps survivors of human trafficking, is also a survivor of sex trafficking. In an exclusive interview with East County Magazine originally aired on KNSJ radio, Torres speaks out on her own experience, how to protect teens from traffickers, and how to get help for victims here in San Diego County, a national hub for human trafficking.

She also calls for repeal of a state law, Senate Bill 357, that decriminalized loitering to solicit prostitution, which she says has cut off the main avenue for victims to get help. 

“Because of this new law, police can’t stop, cite or arrest anyone for loitering to solicit prostitution,” including victims as well as men driving around looking to pick up prostitutes. But when police can’t detain trafficking victims, the victims don’t get referred to programs that can help them escape from being trafficked, says Torres, who was also a panelist at a recent presentation of “Stolen,” an NBC San Diego investigative series on trafficking.

By Miriam Raftery

December 18, 2022 (Lakeside) – San Diego County is a hub for child sex trafficking, with at least 3,000 victims here each year. How can you protect your children?  Find out on Thursday, January 19 when the Lakeside Union School District and El Capitan High School PTSA groups host a screening of the film “Stolen: a Year-Long Investigation into Child Sex Trafficking and Exploitation.”  This must-see film based on an NBC 7 investigative series will be shown at the El Capitan High School Events Center (10410 Ashwood St., Lakeside) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

By Bryhonda Lyons, CalMatters

CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Sara Kruzan, 43, who spent 17 years in prison for killing her trafficker, now helps other victims obtain new sentences for their crimes so they can be released. Photo by Shae Hammond for CalMatters

January 28, 2021 (San Diego's East County) - Sara Kruzan was in her cell when she received a fax that changed her life. After spending some of her teenage years, all of her 20s and much of her 30s in prison for killing her trafficker, Kruzan learned that California’s attorney general had acknowledged that she was a victim of domestic violence. That was 2012. A year later, she was released from prison. 

Bill takes aim at stopping sex trafficking at schools, training educators how to identify victims

East County News Service

July 12, 2017 (San Diego) -- The House of Representatives passed legislation by U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego) to combat sex trafficking. The Empower Educators to Prevent Trafficking Act (H.R. 2268) was included in a package of legislation - The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Protection Act (H.R. 2200).

Public News Service

November 27. 2016 (Los Angeles) -- California is home to three of the top 13 hot spots for child sex trafficking: Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. Now LA and Long Beach are launching a new "Safe Youth Zone" to help young victims escape.

By Thea Skinner

San Diego has one of the highest rates of child sex trafficking in the U.S.

October 10, 2012 (San Diego's East County)--Proposition 35 would increase prison sentences and fines for anyone convicted of human trafficking — the illegal trade of human beings for sex slavery or forced labor. Prison sentences would be increased to 15-years-to life, with fines up to $1.5 million. Prop 35 would also require anyone convicted of sex trafficking to register as a sex offender and disclose identities they use on the Internet, along with which sites they visit. 

In a rare show of unity, this proposition is supported by both the California Democratic and Republican parties.