Author: CNN Newsource

By Wendy Ryan

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    TAMPA, Florida (WFTS) — January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and Tampa Bay 28 is bringing awareness to the crisis of human trafficking all month long.

Tampa Bay 28 anchor Wendy Ryan listened to a survivor share her journey in her own words how trafficking almost killed her, and how finding her voice to testify against her trafficker finally set her free.

“I was so uncomfortable. I felt like the skin on my body is going to shrivel off. That’s how uncomfortable that I felt,” said Laurianna.

Laurianna’s nightmare began in 2012.

As a 20-year-old military wife, her husband was deployed overseas when a crippling medical bill arrived. Desperate, she answered a Craigslist ad for a “Companion.”

“I was like, ‘Okay, this is not a big deal.’ You know, I’ll just go on a couple of dates. It won’t be that big of a deal,” explained Laurianna.

But the promise of easy money was a lie that quickly unraveled into a trap.

“The man started asking me to do sexual favors to him,” said Laurianna.

That night, she walked into her boss’s house and found him armed with a gun. Escaping became all she could think about.

“I went to go towards the door. And as I’m walking towards the door, his friend was going towards the door. I was able to stomp on his foot and hit him in the groin just enough that I could slip my body out the door and I ran,” explained Laurianna.

Laurianna feared her trafficker would hunt her down and kill her.

“The whole way home, he kept calling me and calling me. And at that time, he had my ID. He had all my information. I had to sign a fake contract. I had to, you know, there were, like, so many things that I had done that I’m like, This guy’s gonna know where I live. My life is over,” said Laurianna.

To cope with the pain and shame, Laurianna began drinking excessively. She said the trauma ran deeper, passing through generations. As a child, she suffered sexual abuse, as did her mom and her grandma.

“I think a lot of times, childhood trauma will lead us to do things that we didn’t think. And maybe, if I was healed during that time, I probably wouldn’t have done I wouldn’t have went through what I did,” said Laurianna.

But she fought her way out with support from her husband, counseling, and faith.

“I got baptized while I was pregnant with our son. That was the best day. I’ll never forget when I came out of the water and just being set free. And it was absolutely amazing. Sorry,” said Laurianna.

Then, in 2023, the DOJ told Laurianna her trafficker was convicted and asked her to speak at his sentencing.

“I’ll never forget sitting there next to my other survivor warrior, and I’m holding her hand, and I said, today is going to be the best day for us because we are finally going to have… sorry… that we’re finally going to be set free from everything that’s happened to us,” explained Laurianna.

Here’s part of her victim impact statement in court, facing her trafficker:

“The emotional damage that has this has taken on me has been crazy. Many nights and days I would drink myself to almost death because I truly didn’t know how to cope with what had happened to me. I was so close to death that fatal night! If I would have been one second later, my life would have been over. The gun was less than four-feet from me.”

But today, Laurianna is giving back by volunteering to help women in strip clubs.

“I think all of these women think, well, I’m already I’m doing sin, I’m doing sinful things, but we come in just like Jesus and say, I’m here. I want to love on you. I don’t need anything from you,” said Laurianna. “Trafficking is very complicated. So one of the main problems is they don’t trust anybody. How do you trust somebody, when you’ve been taken advantage of for so long, right,” explained Lurlene Diaz, Executive Director of Created.

Created is a nonprofit recovery program supporting women impacted by human trafficking and sexual exploitation. At Created’s Drop-In Center women can shower and see a case manager who helps with food stamps, medical insurance, and more.

“The ladies are invited to come every single day. We help about 40 women a day, and they come for their basic needs. So they get clothing, shoes, toiletries. They’ll get blankets and coats right now that it’s cold,” said Diaz.

Even with that assistance, many won’t leave their trafficker, becoming dependent and believing they’re in love.

“The men actually sit on the rock outside of our fence, waiting for them. And that even brings security for the women, like I can come in, because when I go out there, he’s going to be there and he’s going to be waiting for me,” said Diaz.

Finally deciding to get out does not come quickly.

“It takes between 70 and 100 visits with our case manager here at this campus before somebody will receive help,” Diaz.

Created also meets with women on the streets and in correction facilities offering help and hope for new beginnings.

“We work with them during the rest of their time that they’re incarcerated, and then we are the ones who pick them up, when they get released from jail,” said Diaz.

So when women are ready, they’re in good hands.

“There’s tremendous healing components that are offered now to people that are highly effective, and people are getting their lives back,” Diaz.

Laurianna has found healing as well.

“I’m no longer that person that was upset about what happened to me. I’m not. I’ve turned it into glory. I’ve turned it into. The Lord’s given me grace, and I’m just very thankful for that,” said Laurianna.

Laurianna’s trafficker is now serving 36 years behind bars. She prays he never hurts anyone else again.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Carol Thompson, Dorothy Tucker

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    JOLIET, Illinois (WBBM) — Joliet Police body-worn camera video shows an officer patting down a child. The 12-year-old was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over for not having lights on. Now, that young girl’s mother is suing the Joliet PD for violation of her daughter’s civil rights.

On February 18, 2024, just after 7:30 p.m. It was dark and cold outside. Joliet police pull over an SUV for not having its lights on. A 20-year-old woman was driving. Her 12-year-old sister was sitting in the passenger seat holding her phone.

Two officers made the stop. One walks up to the driver’s window and asks for the driver’s license and insurance. She provided her license, but said she doesn’t have insurance on her. A few minutes later, officers determined the car’s registration was suspended, so they had to tow it.

The same officer approaches the driver’s window a second time, asking that she and the young passenger step out of the vehicle. They do. It’s now 7:44 p.m.

By now, a third officer, Daniel Avila, arrives on the scene. He’s at the passenger door. When the 12-year-old girl gets out of the car still holding her phone, the officer immediately starts frisking her.

Her adult sister is now behind the vehicle, asking officers, “Can I ask why you patted down a minor?”

Officer Avila responds, “It’s just policy, that’s all. We’re just making sure there’s no weapons or anything like that.”

The sisters call their mother, and the oldest tells her, “They patted [my sister] down, and not even me. Like, that don’t even make sense.”

“And, a man patted her down, too,” she adds.

Within minutes mom Nayocka Jones gets to the scene.

“First thing, I looked at my daughter. She was cold. She didn’t even have a coat,” she told CBS News Chicago.

The officers who made the stop discussed that it was cold, but decided to search the SUV for inventory purposes first while the two sisters stood outside in low- to mid-40-degree weather, the youngest in short sleeves. After nearly 10 minutes the youngest was allowed back in the car to grab a cover-up.

It’s now almost 7:54 p.m., and Jones is extremely angry.

“Why the f*** did you pat my daughter down? She’s 12,” she asks Officer Avila.

She then asks for a white shirt to come to the scene. That’s a supervisor, a sergeant.

One of the officers who made the traffic stop, Officer Charles Moore, then speaks with Jones and tells her a man can pat a 12-year-old female down, and adds, “We don’t need a parent to pat down somebody. A pat down is for weapons. Can a 12-year-old carry a weapon?”

On scene, Jones responds, “So, y’all let him pat my 12-year-old daughter down?”

Officer Moore replies, “I’m letting you know that a man can pat down a female. A man can pat down a child.”

By 8:05 p.m., Sgt. Robert Mau arrives on the scene and told Jones, “If the issue is a male patting down a female, that is not against the law. That is not against policy. It is preferred, in practice, but it is not required.”

As for the pat-down of a passenger who’s a minor, Sgt. Mau told Jones, “I’m not saying that it’s correct, okay? I’m not,” and added, “In my opinion, was it maybe a mistake? Yeah.”

Jones went to the Joliet Police Department the next day and filed a complaint claiming officers had no probable cause to search her 12-year-old daughter and called the pat-down “unreasonable.”

At the time of the traffic stop and pat down, the Joliet Police Department was under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for “underlying systemic issues that affect the Department’s ability to deliver constitutional and lawful police services.”

The Joliet Police Department was aware of the investigation, which began in 2021, as more than 100 current and former officers were interviewed. AG investigators also observed trainings and went on ridealongs.

The findings and recommendations were released in December 2024, 10 months after the stop-and-frisk incident involving Jones’ daughter.

Among the findings were:

The JPD uses unreasonable force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The department’s policing practices discriminate against Black people and raise concerns that the department is discriminating against Latino people in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) and the Illinois Civil Rights Act (ICRA) Failures in the department’s accountability systems have directly contributed to patterns of unconstitutional and unlawful policing The report goes on to state that “persistent deficiencies” were also found in JPD’s policies, training, and supervision that have “contributed to these problems and enabled them to continue.”

That AG investigation was spurred by a whistleblower revealing details about the death of a man in police custody that CBS News Chicago reported on in 2020, 2021, and 2024.

The officer who patted down the preteen in February 2024 is Ofc. Daniel Avila. He was hired by JPD in December 2022.

Four days after the pat-down incident, he received a Notice of Counseling by the same Sgt. Mau who responded to the scene on the 18th.

“It was determined that no reasonable suspicion that the passenger was in possession of a weapon or posed a danger to you or the other officers involved,” the notice said.

“I don’t think the law is and should not be that when there’s just a routine traffic stop that a 12-year-old gets pulled out of a car and searched.” said Jones’ attorney, Victor Henderson of The Cochran Firm Chicago.

Ofc. Avila’s notice goes on to say his action was in violation of JPD policy.

It warns the officer “that future violations of any nature may result in discipline up to and including a recommendation for your termination as a Joliet Police Officer.”

Late Wednesday, Henderson filed the federal civil rights violation lawsuit, alleging violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The lawsuit calls the pat-down of the 12-year-old an “unlawful police search of the child during a routine traffic stop.”

It notes the child was not suspected of any crime, was ordered out of the vehicle, and subjected to a pat down without any legal justification.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Adam Thompson

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    GAMBRILLS, Maryland (WJZ) — A man was found guilty of shooting and killing 23-year-old Britrain Gray in an Anne Arundel County McDonald’s drive-thru window in 2022.

Ja’Quan Dontremique Green was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in a crime of violence. His sentencing date has not been set.

“My heart breaks for the family of Mr. Gray, as they’ve had to relive the trauma of this murder, having attended the trial over the past seven days,” said Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess. “I am glad that we were able to deliver justice for Britrain and his family.”

Police responded around 4:45 a.m. on May 13, 2022, after an employee had been shot at the McDonald’s on Crain Highway in Gambrills.

Britrain Gray, 23, was found inside the restaurant’s cash booth area with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the restaurant.

Investigators said surveillance video showed a black sedan with no tag and blacked-out windows drive to the back of the McDonald’s, where a person got out of the car, walk up to the drive-thru window and fired three shots at the employee.

On July 7, 2022, Green was arrested for an unrelated criminal offense in Prince George’s County. Police said Green was driving a rare, black 2001 Cadillac Catera. He was found with a handgun in his possession.

Investigators determined the gun was consistent with having fired the three 9mm shell casings recovered outside the drive-thru window that killed Gray. Green’s Cadillac Catera had a decal on it that also corresponded to one on the vehicle observed in the McDonald’s video footage, investigators said.

“This was a senseless assassination of a young man who was at work preparing Happy Meals for kids when he was shot through a window,” Leitess said.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Suzanne Stevens

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    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (KRIS) — Portland police say a 12-year-old girl has been reunited with her mother in Houston after being taken to Mexico by her father, ending a years long investigation that began as a welfare concern.

Investigators said the case started in 2021 when authorities began looking into the child’s well-being. At the time, police said the father, Neftaly Garcia, had physical custody of the girl because her mother was in the United States on a visa. That custody arrangement, however, came with restrictions.“There was custody paperwork between the two, and after reviewing that paperwork, I found that one of the restrictions was that no party could ever leave the country,” said Lt. Joe Tamez of the Portland Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division during a news conference Tuesday.

Despite that restriction, investigators later learned the child had been taken to Mexico. Police said a tip from the girl’s babysitter helped confirm her location.

Authorities said they contacted the U.S. Marshals Service early in the investigation and continued working with agencies across borders to locate the child and bring her home.“The healing process now begins for them,” said District Attorney Margie Silva Flores. “But we celebrate the fact that she has been rescued and that a mother and her daughter are reunited.”

Police did not release additional information about Garcia, saying only that kidnapping charges have been filed and that federal charges could be added.

The 12-year-old is currently undergoing assessments, authorities said.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Austin Reed

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    KENNEWICK, Wash. (KAPP) — Residents in central Kennewick had their first opportunity Tuesday night to speak directly to city leaders about a proposed home for Level 3 registered sex offenders near the intersection of 8th Avenue and Edison Street. It was standing room only, with more than 100 people in attendance, many holding signs.

The controversial placement has sparked ongoing community concern, with neighbors voicing fears about safety and proximity to families, schools, and places of worship.

City officials said doors for the City Council meeting opened at 6:15 p.m., with public comment limited to 30 minutes total. Each speaker had up to three minutes to address the council. Once the allotted time expired, no additional speakers were heard.

Officials also confirmed the mayor and at least one council member were not in attendance. Council members said follow-up responses will be provided at a later date. Home school across the street raises safety concerns Apple Valley News Now toured a home school located directly across the street from the proposed site at 5304 West 8th Avenue, where sexually violent predators from McNeil Island in western Washington would live full-time. Rachel Sambrano lives across the street from the property and has homeschooled her two children for the past five years. Both are in fifth grade, and one of her children is autistic. “I never would’ve thought we’d be protesting in our driveway,” Sambrano said. “This is crazy.” Sambrano said her children are now fearful of everyday activities, like checking the mail or taking out the trash. “We have crafts, games — they’re really nervous to go outside,” she said. “My son asks me, ‘Are those people there yet?’” Along with dozens of neighbors, Sambrano has joined protests and prayer gatherings, hoping the home will not be used to house the offenders. She also said she is frustrated over the location’s proximity to Edison Elementary School, a nearby church, and her family’s home — just 66 feet from where the facility would be located. “Pot shops can’t be put up here,” she said. “This is worse than that.” While Sambrano said she believes in rehabilitation and forgiveness, she maintains that the proposed site is not appropriate. “It’s the wrong place,” she said. “I believe in rehab, but there is a place — and this isn’t it.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.