Latest Human trafficking News
South Africa intercepts buses carrying more than 400 unaccompanied children from Zimbabwe
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Border officials in South Africa say they have intercepted dozens of buses carrying more than 400 young children from Zimbabwe without parents or legal guardians in an anti-trafficking operation. The officials say the children were being “trafficked” into...
Niger’s junta revokes a key law that had slowed migration for Africans desperate to reach Europe
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Niger’s junta has signed a decree revoking a 2015 law that was enacted to curb the smuggling of migrants traveling from African countries through a key migration route in Niger en route to Europe, according to a government circular issued on Monday. “The...
Fears of political violence are growing as the 2024 campaign heats up and conspiracy theories evolve
The man who bludgeoned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer last year consumed a steady diet of right-wing conspiracy theories before an attack that took place with the midterm elections less than two weeks away. As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up,...
Ohio Catholic priest gets life sentence for sex-trafficking convictions
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest received a life sentence Friday for his convictions on five counts related to sex-trafficking charges in the molestation of three boys who prosecutors say he met at an Ohio preschool and coerced to continue sexual activity as adults. Rev....
Backpage founder convicted of 1 count of money laundering. Arizona jury deadlocks on 84 other counts
PHOENIX (AP) — Michael Lacey, a founder of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com, was convicted Thursday on a single count of money laundering and acquitted on another. But an Arizona jury deadlocked on 84 other counts against him in a case that alleged he participated in a scheme to sell...
Police are investigating a sexual assault allegation against a Utah man who inspired a hit movie
Police in Utah are looking into a woman's claim that the founder of an anti-child-trafficking organization made famous by a movie last summer sexually assaulted her, the first known criminal investigation amid assault claims made against him by six women in two lawsuits. The woman...
High-ranking Mormon leader M. Russell Ballard dies at age 95. He was second-in-line to lead faith
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One of the highest ranking leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, M. Russell Ballard, has died. He was 95. He died Sunday surrounded by family at his home, according to a church statement Monday morning. Ballard was...
8 dead in crash after police chased a suspected human smuggler, Texas officials say
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eight people died Wednesday when the driver of a car suspected of carrying smuggled migrants fled police and smashed into an oncoming vehicle on a South Texas highway. The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. when the driver of a 2009 Honda Civic tried to outrun...
German government plans to allow asylum-seekers to work sooner and punish smugglers harder
BERLIN (AP) — The German government has approved legislation that would allow asylum-seekers to start working sooner and a plan to stiffen punishment for people who smuggle migrants. The package backed by the Cabinet on Wednesday, which still requires parliamentary approval, is the...
Hundreds of Serbian police deploy in border zone with Hungary after deadly shooting among migrants
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Hundreds of Serbian officers were dispatched Saturday into a border area with Hungary, where they detained several people after a shooting between migrants killed three people and injured one, police said. Reports of violence and gun battles have become...
