[Music]
before becoming the truck driver I was a
police officer in a small town in West
Virginia it was a very rural County with
approximately 9,000 residents being a
typical small-town America had a high
school a dollar store one post office a
few churches one really good restaurant
in fact my wife often refers to it as
Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show
but being small-town America all the
people there very well connected there
are generations of families friends and
neighbors that attend church together
and also go to sporting events my job is
the cop was to serve the community
a typical day serving the community
consisted of traffic stops responded to
the Mesnick violence calls and drug
investigations but there was one area
that really was lacking in my training
and that was the area of prostitution in
fact it wasn't even covered in the
academy or at my department so I thought
to myself why should I commit all my
time and energy and investigating this
when they're just out to make a quick
buck and they're not really hurting
anything right because I got more
important things to do like domestic
violence as most police officers will
tell you
domestic violence calls are the most
serious dangerous and unpredictable
event that we go to
after I myself was almost killed at the
scene of a domestic violence call I
decided to change my life I had already
had my CDL commercial driver's license
so I decided to follow in my dad's
footsteps to become a truck driver and I
moved to Pennsylvania where he and my
mom had already relocated I got a great
job as a road driver and just the
following year it didn't take long
before I was confronted with the
aggravation of prostitution up close
again I was at a rest area in Missouri
and I saw a young girl going from truck
to truck to truck after she would leave
a truck she would go to the end of the
parking lot and she would check in with
this white van that was sitting there
she would leave the van and come back to
the next truck and knock on the next
door I was truly appalled at why this
young girl would choose such a lifestyle
and not go out and get a real job but
again I brushed it off then one night in
Chillicothe Ohio I had a young girl
knock on my door and asked me if I
wanted a date and that's code for having
sex I told her no thanks it just closed
my door
you know truck drivers have a term for
girls that work to parking lots and it's
a lot lizards they even sell stickers at
truck stop that you put on your windows
that say no lot lizards but something
struck me different that night I
couldn't shake the troublesome feeling
that I had and I got a really bad
night's rest
maybe because that young girl was 20
years old or so resembled that of my own
daughter it made me reflect a little
deeper so why in the world with this
young girl with big beautiful blue eyes
look so tattered and torn and why did
every time I notice a girl working the
parking lot she would leave the truck
and go to the end of that lot and check
in with a car or a van that's there
lurking in the night why is that who was
that
was she working by herself was she
working for someone or was she being
forced to do it and then it hit me
and my blinders fell off and my sixth
sense kicked in the sixth sense is
something that everyone has it can't be
taught it's just a gut feeling
the police officers rely on that heavily
my sixth sense just told me that
something wasn't right something didn't
add up it told me that she may be
trapped and this girl was not just any
girl this girl was someone's daughter so
the question is how does a girl a young
girl boy go from being an all-american
girl or boy to becoming a prostitute
whatever individual journey is different
but the pattern is similar when I was a
police officer I assisted many families
in locating runaway teens we would get
the call I would jump in my black crown
victoria police car and go to the area
and almost always locate the teen i
would then return them home and then i
left i didn't think it was my
responsibility i didn't put two and two
together that often the teen was fleeing
something at home where there were
substance abuse neglect or domestic
violence the very thing that made me
leave the force so i decided i need to
learn a little more about the world's
oldest profession and what I discovered
shocked me many prostitutes are not just
trapped they are enslaved
and that is slavery at a strictest
definition you know the definition of
modern-day slavery it's people forced to
work under the threat of violence
without pay and unable to walk away as I
learn more about the crime of sex
slavery I realize that some of the
victims are Runaways with a history of
at Ematic family event a vulnerable teen
or young adult through coercion forced
or through fraud falls under the control
of someone looking to build a status
this status seeker becomes empowered by
forcing the victim to engage in acts
that are demeaning harmful and
destructive sex slavery victimizes women
men and children and these hideous
patterns are not aggravations are
nuisance ladies and gentlemen it's
criminal so I had no idea just how
prevalent the sex trade is in the United
States after all this is America and
most of us believe that slavery ended in
this country in 1865 but slavery of all
forms is very prevalent and it's
happening right under our noses
it does not discriminate slaves can be
found in rural areas cities and suburbs
all over this country in all 50 states
and yes possibly even in my little
hometown they come from every social
economic background and every level of
education when it comes to sex slavery
the FBI says two hundred and
ninety-three thousand American youth are
currently at risk of becoming the slave
that's over a quarter of million kids so
today as I Drive up and down the road in
my truck and stop at truck stops I
looked at parkings
a little different I'm no longer just
looking for that parking space I'm
looking for what's going on around me
it's my professional responsibility to
watch out for those who can't watch out
for themselves but I can't do it alone I
need your help
truck drivers are everywhere across this
country and America's highways our
modern day slavery outs we all can do
our part to save a life how can we do
that first of all we've got to remove
those blinders that I had and get
training I got my training that truckers
against trafficking and learn how and
what to look for now I'm going to go
into these truck stops I'm not just
looking at the lot I watch what's going
on around me
I'm vigilant so if you see a young child
that looks out of place may look
frightened or unkept don't just turn the
blind eye like I did but take a stance
second instead of just putting the
sticker on our windshield find a way to
help in whatever way we can
understand the local resources on what
to look for and who to call just last
week I spoke to nine different drivers
at four different truck stops and gave
them information about this trade so
hopefully now when they go into their
truck stop or rest area they'll be
looking and they know who to call I feel
that sex trafficking is the most
appalling crime against humanity it is
it within our moral responsibility to
take action we can all step up remove
our blinders and make that call because
if it was your daughter
or your sister or your niece or nephew
when you want someone to make the call I
sure would thank
[Applause]