SAN JOSE (KRON) — In the wake of an NFL player being questioned in connection to a prostitution sting, KRON sat down with an expert on human trafficking, who was in town for the Super Bowl.
The expert said it should come as no surprise that a pro athlete is once again connected to a trafficking case.
“No, it didn’t boggle my mind, because that’s why we’re here,” said Nita Belles, who is the author of “In our Backyard.”
“We” being a host of volunteers, locally and from outside the state, in the South Bay for the week leading up to the Super Bowl. Some in law enforcement helped while off-duty, working out of a command center in San Jose, where on the walls, pictures of missing children fuel the motivation to help crack down on human trafficking.
“Last year, we had Warren Sapp that was arrested,” Belles said.
An expert on human trafficking, Belles is the managing director of the Oregon-based anti-human trafficking non-profit “In our Backyard.”
“If you have Internet, you have human trafficking.”
Belles has also authored a book with the same title as her organization, detailing the trafficking problem and how to help fix it.
After learning that Denver Bronco’s practice squad safety Ryan Murphy was questioned by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Human Trafficking Task Force Tuesday during a sting at a local Motel 6.
Belles said she hoped it would raise eyebrows.
“Honestly, one of the biggest things that needs to happen in this fight against this crime, is awareness and by something like this happening, it increases the awareness, because the more people that know, the less we’re gonna have human trafficking,” Belles said.