Inside how human traffickers exploit vulnerable kids needs: Thats how they get in

Human traffickers are turning children’s hunger, desperation and need for affection into tools of exploitation, a Colorado city police sergeant warned after his dedicated unit’s first year brought dozens of survivors to safety.The Aurora Police Department (APD) Human Trafficking Unit opened 53 investigations, arrested 28 suspects and recovered 29 survivors, including 15 minors, in its first year.APD Sgt.Joseph Sullivan told Fox News Digital the work is exposing abuse that residents may never suspect is happening around them.According to the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.”“It is happening in our backyard, not just in those other places,” Sullivan said.For Sullivan, one teenage girl’s plea captures both the urgency of that mission and the difficult road survivors face after investigators reach them.The 16-year-old had been brought to Aurora — a city of just over 400,000 people outside Denver — from another town by her boyfriend, who then left her there, Sullivan said.Trying to survive, she was sexually exploited by people around an apartment complex in exchange for somewhere to stay, drugs or food.During an interview, she asked a detective to find those responsible.“‘I really hope that you can find the people that are doing this, because it really hurts what I’m having to do just to survive,'” Sullivan recalled her saying.The girl died of an overdose a few months later, he said.Her words stayed with him.“It really is satisfying being able to contact these survivors and then identify who’s exploiting them and holding them accountable,” Sullivan said.But reaching someone does not guarantee an immediate or lasting escape.Survivors may need repeated contact, resources and offers of help before they can find a way out, he said.That is part of why having dedicated detectives matters.Created in September 2025, the...