3/17/2016 – Pinal County, AZ — A 45-year-old woman who claims she was sexually trafficked in Oklahoma in the 1980’s as a teen, is now living in Arizona and helping officials there to combat their growing juvenile prostitution problems.
An excerpt from the Casa Grande Dispatch, published online Mar. 6, 2016 (by Katie Campbell)…
Shanna Parker’s mother didn’t stop her pimp. The police who knew exactly what he was didn’t either. Not even the juvenile shelter where she stayed for a time could stop him.
Shanna Parker as a teen.
The phone would ring in the shelter, and the man on the other end of the call would ask for “Shanna Parker.” Without a second thought, an adult would hand the phone to Parker, a teenager with a known history.
…
Parker was trafficked in Oklahoma, but after following close friends to Arizona and finding the first real opportunity to heal, she has become a partner in Pinal County’s mission to end juvenile exploitation.
Parker said the solution isn’t about policy — it’s easy for the law to protect victims from being formally charged as criminals – but rather personal perception.
“People only change when it means something personally to them,” she explained. “They don’t change because you’ve got 3,000 billboards. They don’t change because you came up with a great commercial. They change because you reached them on a personal nature. And that’s what Pinal County does, and that’s what really makes the difference.”
You can read the entire article at TriValleyCentral.com
Below is a video showing an overview of human sex trafficking and street prostitution in Oklahoma City as shot by JohnTV’s own Brian Bates
Below is a video shot by JohnTV’s Brian Bates of him assisting OKC Vice in rescuing a 15-year-old sex trafficking victim…