IN YOUR BACK YARD: Officials: Sex Trafficking Crimes Skyrocketing, Intensely Local
NEWBURGH — Human trafficking is not a distant threat. It’s here, in the mid Hudson Valley, and we need to know how to recognize it and help the victims.
That was the message Thursday at a forum meant to raise awareness of human trafficking and the need to prepare law enforcement and victims’ services agencies to deal with the crimes. The forum, hosted by Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Cold Spring), was held at SUNY Orange’s Kaplan Hall in Newburgh.
Maloney, who sponsored one of more than a dozen bills passed by the House of Representatives this spring to combat human trafficking, said we’ve seen the issue hit home, with trafficking cases out of Newburgh, New Windsor and Pound Ridge.
“This is an issue where we have to open our ears, open out eyes. It’s happening,” said state Sen. William Larkin. “It’s our responsibility, right here.”
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