Delusions that shrink to the size of a woman’s glove,
Then sicken inclusively outwards:
…the incessant recital
Intoned by reality, larded with technical terms,
Each one double-yolked with meaning and meaning’s rebuttal. – Philip Larkin
Usually I can see through to the truth of a prostitution news story, despite the credulity of reporters, the obfuscatory efforts of police and the liberal use of dysphemisms. But every so often one comes along that’s so convoluted I just can’t say anything about it with any degree of certitude. This is one of those times; I’ll point out its problems and share my observations and impressions, but don’t expect a neat conclusion because I haven’t got one.
A Wilmington [North Carolina] high school student is facing federal charges for crimes related to prostitution. Her mother says her daughter is a victim of sex trafficking. Laura Berte says…Alexandrea …has been missing since July. She contacted law enforcement but says they were reluctant to place her daughter on a missing persons list since she was 19 at the time. Berte said she continued to push a few more times, until a Wilmington police officer helped put Alexandrea on the missing persons national database…Alexandrea…who just turned 20 this week, was recently pulled over in Tennessee for a traffic stop. When troopers ran her name, they discovered she was on a national missing persons list. However…[she] also had three other young women in the car along with a small amount of marijuana, several gift cards and cell phones…
No matter what the mother claims about her daughter’s mental capacity (see below), she is a legal adult, as were the other three women; if any of them had been one day below 18 you can bet she would have been described as a “child” (or at least a “girl”) rather than a “young woman”. “Federal charges for crimes related to prostitution” would almost certainly mean the Mann Act in this context, considering she was from North Carolina but arrested in Tennessee; though the story does not make it clear I suspect she was driving and that the rental was in her name, which makes her a “trafficker” under American agency-nullifying prohibitionist policies which insist that women are imbeciles who cannot make our own business decisions. That’s especially ironic in light of the mother’s claims, as you’ll see.
After getting a tip, Laura found her daughter on backpage.com [sic]. Like many people, she was unaware of the online adult services site, which experts say makes it easy for traffickers to advertise girls all over the country with anonymity. In 2010, Craigslist put a stop to advertising adult services, but Backpage soon picked it up. Experts say Backpage makes around $20 million a year for these ads. Laura Berte said she discovered that, within five weeks, her daughter had been advertised for sex in at least as many states…
I certainly hope you expected a reference to the Backpage witch-hunt; no “domestic sex trafficking” story is complete without it. Note the absurd oversimplification of the flow of advertising on adult sites and the subtle erosion of Alexandrea’s agency by the passive-voice “had been advertised for sex”, implying that she did not place the ads herself; also remember that one of the defining characteristics of yellow journalism established by noted historian Frank Mott is “a parade of false learning from so-called experts”.
…”It’s just so traumatic for me to…comprehend that…my daughter has been lured into this kind of lifestyle. I feel like she’s been kidnapped. I feel like somebody stole my baby.” Laura Berte said her daughter has a mental capacity of a 9 year old…”My daughter’s not a criminal…She doesn’t have the mental capacity to come up with this idea on her own. This is bigger than her and bigger than most people in this community know, and it’s happening right underneath our noses…The quality [of Alexandrea’s Backpage photos] led me to believe someone is investing time and money.”
As we’ve seen before, parents and “authorities” often claim that adult women have “the mental capacity of a child” when they wish to present her as the “victim” in some unusual sexual situation which somehow went wrong. But as usual, this claim doesn’t hold water; if Alexandrea supposedly had the “mental capacity of a 9 year old”, then how did she get a driver’s license? Why was she not under some sort of conservatorship? And why haven’t local officials made statements to the Feds corroborating the mother’s claims? I think it’s pretty obvious that the mother believes what she wants to believe; her daughter couldn’t possibly be a dirty, nasty whore, so an invisible conspiracy must have “kidnapped” her, “lured” her into this “lifestyle” (a word which is nearly always pejorative), and apparently manipulated her from afar with mind-control rays.
National human trafficking experts say one third of all runaways are trafficked or exploited for sex within the first 48 hours after they go missing…Local experts say…North Carolina…happens to be one of the top ten states for human trafficking with contributing factors such as poverty and location. Many girls have been trafficked up and down the East Coast, making North Carolina a drive-thru destination. Women trafficked from New York to Miami have also likely been trafficked through North Carolina…
Really? Fucking really? Apparently these so-called “experts” (see Mott’s rule above) haven’t bothered to read any actual studies, which show that 84% of underage prostitutes (much less “all runaways”) have never even met a “pimp” even after they’ve been on the streets for months or years. If a third were “exploited for sex” every 48 hours, virtually all of them would be within a month…and methodologically sound studies say exactly the opposite. On a lighter note, here’s North Carolina’s entry in the “top human trafficking hub” pissing contest.
…North Carolina does not see ‘pimping’ as a felony…
Well, even a stopped clock…
…even if a minor gets arrested for prostitution, they could serve time as an adult. Experts say that’s a fault within the system since minors would clearly be trafficking victims…
Oh, clearly. Because everybody knows that teenagers are innocent children up until the magical Moment of Shazam, and therefore could not possibly conceive of the idea of selling sex.
…There were three other women in the car at the time – one was an 18 year old from Lumberton [North Carolina]. Another woman was from North Carolina [?] and the third was from Kansas. Everyone but Allie was released…
Considering the current “sex trafficking” hysteria, this is the most interesting detail in the whole story, and the one which engenders the most confusion in my mind; if it weren’t for this, I would feel almost completely certain about every statement I’ve made so far. If these other girls were hookers, too, why were they let go instead of being forcibly “rescued”, and why weren’t they charged for the marijuana? If they weren’t hookers, what’s the basis of the Mann Act charge against Alexandrea? Is she supposed to have “trafficked” herself? Or is the reporter as mistaken about the federal charges as she is about nearly everything else in this train wreck? Given the tendency of embarrassing journalistic debacles to vanish from the national media, I don’t expect any more on this one; however, I’m going to ask my contacts in North Carolina to keep an eye out for a follow-up in the local media and I’ll let you know if I find out anything more.
Update: A reader sent me this brief item which confirms that “Alexandra” (I’m not sure if this or the unusual spelling in the other story is correct) has been charged under the Mann Act, as I surmised.
Kudos to BackPage for not buckling to the traffic hystericalists. I don’t know why everyone is so upset at them – they aren’t the only method of “anonymous” prostitution and they aren’t even the best source. ECCIE has all the local independent talent and even some agency girls. And – they have a method of verifying that they aren’t ripoffs. BackPage is actually CHOCK FULL of ripoffs – and obvious ones too!
The reason is simple: it’s because they’ve been TOLD about Backpage. It was around before Craigslist moved adult ads back under the radar, but at that time the fanatics were concentrating on Craigslist so Backpage didn’t exist in their minds; their writings insist that all the hookers obediently moved from Craigslist to Backpage when their ads were no longer “allowed” on the former. You have to remember, these people are not only lawheads but simple-minded ones; they really do believe in their teeny, tiny little brains that laws have the power to alter reality. Look at how long it’s taken them to recognize the futility of the “War on Drugs”, and even after 40 years, hundreds of billions wasted and civil rights utterly destroyed, about half of them STILL don’t get it.
I expect all the Advertising Websites specifically targeted at the adult services industry must be pretty happy that they don’t get mentioned here. (Well, unless they’d like the free publicity.) Though Big Doggie used to get mentioned, I think the amusing failure of Operation Flea Collar to do anything but ruin a few girls lives and the fact that it is strictly adult oriented make it harder to pressure.
The main advantage Craigslist and Backpage have over those other sites is that last time I checked it was much cheaper to place ads on them.
Also, I’m pretty sure they haven’t recognized the futility of the War on Drugs, though they seem to be rethinking (slowly and painfully) the War on Marijuana.
Sites like ECCIE, I think, make it more difficult for the prevailing thought of “prostituted women” to exist. One read through the forums, the varying opinions and methods of conducting business, random conversation, etc. make a lie our of the idea that women who advertise prostitution services are all chained to beds until the alleged droves of rapists come to call (gotta do 50/night after all. No time for chattin’!). Backpages, as it is just advertising (but correct me if I’m wrong as I don’t advertise there) no forums or other on-site interaction.
Exactly right on all points. And no – I don’t know of any forum or on-site interaction on BackPage. BackPage, as a standalone, is a fool’s endeavor unless you’re a gambling man and are prepared for a tranny to show up at your door – or any girl who ISN’T the one pictured in the ad.
To do BackPage right – you have to google the telephone number to see if it’s a fraud – then you need to check ECCIE and TER for reviews to see if the provider is legit. Better to just use ECCIE and TER first and skip the effort of filtering BackPage.
“I’ll point out its problems and share my observations and impressions, but don’t expect a neat conclusion because I haven’t got one.”
[emulating Horatio Cain]: At least you’re… Honest.
Ahem. Sorry – it’s Friday. The sad fact is that the government’s position on sex work is so rampantly incoherent that, when analyzing these kind of stories, one can not limit one’s conclusions to the sane or plausible. Young woman with the intellectual capacity of a 9 year-old not placed on a missing persons list, woman potentially charged with forcibly sex trafficking… herself, etc. Implausible in a rational system, but not here in the Twilight Zone.
“National human trafficking experts say one third of all runaways are trafficked or exploited for sex within the first 48 hours after they go missing…”
Upon reading this I immediately ran to see how many people go missing each year; it’s about 900,000 in the US (almost all cases are quickly cleared). So we’re to believe that roughly 300,000* runaways are “trafficked or exploited” within 48 hours? How do the traffickers and exploiters find them so quickly when the authorities can’t? That’s a lot of sex slavery happening on an annual basis. Where are all the millions of former sex slavery survivors that made it to adulthood?
*My God! All the estimates converge on 300,000; it must be accurate!
“Exploited” in the Marxist sense of having to work. Not surprising that after 48 hours of being homeless girls run out of pocket money and start to get hungry, though it shows a lack of organization not to be looking for business within the first 8 hours.
No, not in the Marxist since of being made to work. When Marx said exploited he meant having to work in conditions such as Charles Dickens described in his grimmest novels (Oliver Twist, for esample), at a rate of pay that would not put food on the table AND pay for shelter. Have you ever actually read any Marx besides The Communist Manifesto?
See my article http://www.opednews.com/articles/Making-Sex-a-Crime-by-Richard-Girard-120324-103.html
for more on the real statistics on runaways exploited for sex.
The driver’s license is the sticking point for me. Although, I immediately thought of Bart Simpson and how he’s a precocious 10-year-old who has been shown on an occasion to have his own pair of driving gloves and being able to successfully drive Homer’s and Marge’s cars.
Anyway, in the real world, there’s no way an adult with that capacity would be able to navigate their way through the better parts of two states. Perhaps within their own city/suburb/immediate environment that they are accustomed to and is familiar, yes. Also, having the mental capacity of a 9-year-old is actually rather beneficial for some criminal elements. That age range of 8-12 are remarkably creative and begin to show some adult cunning at that point, especially if they’ve been caught doing something wrong or are PLANNING to do something wrong. Adults with a mental capacity of actual infants are a completely different story, however. Adults like Alexandrea, assuming she does have that mental capacity, have been able to hold down jobs with varying amounts of responsibility and complexity. And they’re sure as hell are aware enough to know when they are being patronized by authorities (parents, teachers, family, etc.) who think they don’t know their own ass from the ground.
They are insane.
The mother, the Feds, and all of the no good rotte Mo&*(%-F@$)(rs who are trying to persecute this young women. Mind of a 9 year-old my @$$,
Anyone who wishes to post my OpEdNews article “Making Sex Illegal,” (http://www.opednews.com/articles/Making-Sex-a-Crime-by-Richard-Girard-120324-103.html), or use it to argue against the fright merchants with the REAL stats on trafficking in The U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, please feel free to do so; just source it for God’s sake so they can’t say you are pulling info out of your @$$.
Maggie, would you keep a watch out to see if some sort of legitimate legal defense fund is established, and inform us when it does. Also any additional news.on this matter.
From the WECT article:
IANA shrink. But if this diagnosis is real, it is easy to understand in layman’s terms why she was charged with anything cops could dream up.
Think of someone who, due to mental illness, behaves like a hyperactive cartoon drama queen with the attention span of a gnat. Now imagine them being interrogated by typical LEOs with their well known devotion to honesty and integrity. The most difficult thing to understand is why she wasn’t also charged with assassinating Lincoln.
> The most difficult thing to understand is why she
> wasn’t also charged with assassinating Lincoln.
Because the LEOs did the math and concluded that she was only six years old in 1865. But now they’re demanding she prove she wasn’t in Berlin in 1945.
Or Dallas in 1963, Memphis or Los Angeles in 1968.
Re: Mott. I’ve been tinkering, off and on, with a post for my own site about the Rule of Expertise. The basic thing is that real experts tell you things. They give you facts and data and know the limitations of both. They don’t waste time boasting about how expert they are.
Oh, but of course if a minor gets arrested for prostitution, they could serve time as an adult. Because you’re a child when you want to make your own decision, but you’re an adult when you make a decision we don’t like. It’s a wonder any teenager is sane. The fact that most are in the face of this nonsense is a testament to their mental toughness.
As in being fully responsible for their actions, no teenagers aren’t. Prefrontal cortex doesn’t develop until 19-24 (if memory serves), which is the part of the brain that imparts judgement. This is a railroad job of the first order. See my comments above.
{takes a deep breath}
{takes another}
{takes one more, holds it while counting to ten, and then lets it out slowly}
The state of the art in this area of science is as yet not sufficiently developed to build any law or policy on.
{another long, slow, deep breath}
Whether because of the prefrontal cortex or because of a lack of experience in the adult world or for any other reason, the law tends to hold that teenagers aren’t capable, or at least not as capable as adults, of making certain important decisions (forming legally binding contracts, buying legal drugs, etc.). Thus, the law does not allow them to do those things.
I think that you and I are in agreement that, if we are to build law on this lack of capability (real, imagined, exaggerated, or whatever), we should be consistent. One does not suddenly gain years of experience, have a surge of prefrontal cortex growth, etc. once one is accused of committing a crime. If one hasn’t enough judgement to make decisions as an adult, then one hasn’t the judgement to make decisions as an adult.
And if one does, then one does.
I agree, although there is evidence that damage to the prefrontal cortex of an adult does reduce inhibitions and moral controls. I think you would also agree that our society is shirking its responsiblility by using a one size fits all strategy to handle “crime,” whatever that is. The primary purpose of education is to insure that we are taught ethics, as G.W.F. Hegel pointed out 200 years ago. The only ethics currently being taught is the Golden Rule,,” “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
We reach. I’m not a herbert.
I have a suspicion that it is working at making judgements which matures the prefrontal cortex, rather than just time or age. That is, a child, and then a teenager, and then an adult who had little practice in making judgements would have an immature prefrontal cortex forever.
But again, the state of the art in this area of science is as yet not sufficiently developed to build any law or policy on. Or for me (or anybody else) to make any “and that’s the way it is” declarations on which causes which.