Sex trafficking experts convene in GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Sex trafficking might seem like a crime a world away, but experts say it affects thousands in West Michigan.

The Manasseh Project Conference comes to Grand Rapids Friday and Saturday to combat sex trafficking in our community.

Wedgwood Christian Services hosts the two-day conference at the Salvation Army Kroc Center, 2500 S. Division Ave.

A 2009 estimate said between 50,000 and 70,000 girls in the U.S. are trafficked.

The conference leaders cite U.S. State Department estimates that there are 2,400 children who are victims of sexual and labor exploitation in West Michigan.

Representatives from Wedgwood, as well as national, state, and local sex trafficking experts, will meet at the conference.

More than 100 law enforcement officials, social workers, counselors, psychologists, youth pastors and medical professionals are expected to attend, too.

Last May, 24 Hour News 8 reported on a four-state prostitution ring that may have been tied to sex trafficking.

The FBI said Javier Aguilera-Sanchez managed a Grand Rapids brothel as part of the prostitution ring centered in Indianapolis. Aguilera-Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy in July 2010.

FBI agents say it's difficult to prosecute sex trafficking cases because the victims rarely come forward.

Manasseh Project Conference organizers say their goal is to talk about ways of effectively identifying victims, intervening and providing them with treatment and care.