The 2nd Annual Collaboration to

Combat Human Trafficking

October is

National Domestic Violence Awarenes Month

Executive Director & Founder, Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking

 

In 2011, Anna Rodriguez, was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. This honor was bestowed upon her by Florida Governor Rick Scott, who felt that the work that Anna did, not only in the state of Florida but both nationally and internationally was very important. Recently, Anna’s work against human trafficking was commended by Florida U.S Senator Marco Rubio. Anna has been considered to be “The mother” of the anti human trafficking movement within the United States. Anna has received numerous recognitions and awards for her passion and dedication in identifying, rescuing and restoring victims’ lives. Anna travels around the U.S speaking and training law enforcement, community organizations and faith based organizations about human trafficking. Anna has also conducted trainings in Guatemala, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Peru, Chile, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Costa Rica, London, Saint Lucia, Bolivia, Paraguay, Trinidad/Tobago, Belize, St. Vincent, Barbados, El Salvador, Suriname, Dominica and Ecuador as part of the Organization of American States Human Trafficking Training Delegation. Anna was also invited to speak at the United Nations during the premier of Lives for Sale and she spoke during the Florida Premier of TRADE.

 

Most recently, Anna was a presenter at the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives convening of a Compassion in Action Roundtable entitled, “Faith-Based and Community Solutions to Combat Human Trafficking.” In 2004 Anna founded the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking in Naples, Florida. Today the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking has offices in Orlando and their headquarters is located in Clearwater, Florida. They have also established 4 new Rescue and Restore Coalitions in the State of Florida as well as 3 human trafficking task forces. Anna Rodriguez has served as a victim advocate with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and an outreach coordinator for the Immokalee Shelter for Abuse Women in Collier County, Florida. During her 10 years serving CCSO, first as a volunteer and then as a Victim Advocate, Anna had accumulated near 300 hours of numerous trainings and development programs offered by different law enforcement agencies.  Additional Bio....

 

 

Human Trafficking Survivor, Author, Victim’s Advocate, Director of Education & Training for Gracehaven House

 

Ms. Flores has been a licensed Social Worker for over twenty years. She received her Master’s in Counseling Education from University of Dayton and a Bachelor’s of Social Work from Ball State University. She is the spokes woman and Director of Education & Training for Gracehaven House, a ten-bed long-term faith based care and rehabilitation home for young girls under the age of 18 who have been victimized by human trafficking. Ms. Flores was appointed to the Ohio Attorney General’s Commission on the Study of Human Trafficking in 2009 and has testified before the Ohio House and Senate in supports of Human Trafficking Legislation. Her efforts were a major part of the success of SB235 being passed into law by Governor Strickland on Dec. 23rd, 2010.

 

She is a much sought after international speaker and lectures on many aspects of Human Trafficking from both a personal perspective as well as a professional expert. She has trained children services workers, judges, probations officers, guest lectures at universities across the US and speaks with middle and high school students nationwide. Ms. Flores is featured by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum in a traveling exhibit entitled, Invisible Slavery and has published two books, “The Sacred Bath” and just released, “The Slave Across the Street”. The audio version of her latest book has also been recently nominated for The 2011 Audie Award, being in the top 5 of all memoirs and biographies. Her story has been seen on The Today Show & MSNBC: Sex Slaves-The Teen Trade. Ms Flores was awarded the honor of Columbus' 2009 “20 Women You Should Know,”' The 2009 Soroptimist "Women Making A Difference" award and the 2010 Ruby Award.

 

Sergeant, Dallas Police Squad

 

Sergeant Byron Fassett has been with the Dallas Police Department for 29 years. He served as Patrol Officer and a Detective before moving to the Child Exploitation Squad in 1990 where he has specialized in conducting investigations involving the sexual abuse and exploitation of children for the past 19 years. The Child Exploitation Squad, which Sergeant Fassett is responsible for supervising, handles approximately 1,100 cases a year, consists of 15 detectives, and is divided into three teams; the Investigations Team, the High Risk Victims and Trafficking Team, (HRVT) and the Internet Crimes Against Children Team (ICAC). These teams investigate child abductions, child pornography, victimization of children through prostitution, sexual assaults of children by non-family members/strangers, Internet facilitated sexual abuse of children, and other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation of children. He has been designated as a Special Investigator for the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Texas and a Special Deputy for United States Marshall's Service.

 

Sergeant Fassett developed and wrote the grant for the Sexual Offender Apprehension Program (SOAP) and started the SOAP team in the department’s Child Exploitation Squad. The department’s SOAP team was the first in the State of Texas and has now been replicated by several other departments throughout the state and country. Sergeant Fassett co-developed and wrote the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) grant for the Dallas Police Department, and started the ICAC team in the department’s Child Exploitation Squad. Sergeant Fassett, along with the other members of the Dallas ICAC Task Force, is responsible for the design, implementation and management of “Operation Avalanche.” This operation lasted 16 months and was responsible for the arrest of over 180 suspects nationally. Sergeant Fassett started the High Risk Victims and Trafficking Team (HRVT) within the Dallas Police Department. The HRVT Team specializes in investigations involving the sexual abuse and exploitation of high-risk/multiple runaways, child victims of prostitution/trafficking, and repeat victims of sexual abuse. Sergeant Fassett co-authored an article, “Juvenile Prostitution: An Overlooked Form of Child Sexual Abuse” in 1994 for the APSAC ADVISOR (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children).  Additional Bio...

Atty. Salvador Cicero

Cicero Law Firm, P.C.

 

http://cicerolawfirm.com/

Phone: 312.421.2920

Location: Chicago, IL

Founder of the Law Offices of Salvador A. Cicero, P.C. D/B/A The Cicero Law Firm, P.C.

 

Mr. Cicero is a graduate of the Matías Romero Institute for Diplomatic Studies in Mexico City (2000) and holds a Juris Doctor and a Certificate in International Transactions and Development from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (1998).  He received a B.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico (1994).  He is admitted to practice law in Illinois and the US Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  He is an Illinois Notary Public.

 

Prior to the firm, Mr. Cicero served as Research Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Director of the American Bar Association’s Project to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Ecuador (2005-2006).   Mr. Cicero was also a career member of the Foreign Service of Mexico, and served in various Senior level positions at the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

 

He has practiced in the areas of Corporate Law, International Law, Immigration, Civil Rights and Human Rights.   He has published various Law Review articles and other academic articles in the U.S., Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.  He has lectured in various programs in Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, St. Lucia, Uruguay and the U.S., most notably as a consultant for the Organization of American States and as a trainer for United Nations’ Peacekeeping Forces. He has been an invited commentator on national legislation in Mexico and Ecuador.  He has lectured in universities through out the American Hemisphere.

 

He is a member of the American Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

 

Among his awards and distinctions are the 2007 El Humanitario Award by the Cook County State’s Attorney, the William Oxley Thompson Award for Early Career Achievement by The Ohio State University Alumni Association (2004) and the American Bar Association’s Silver Key (1998) and Bronze Key (1997).

 

 

 

 

State Outreach Coordinator, Floirda Coalition Against Human Trafficking

 

Giselle Rodriguez is the State Outreach Coordinator for the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking. As the State Outreach Coordinator, Giselle has trained staff members in numerous faith based organizations, health care providers, Social service provider’s code enforcement and law enforcement. Giselle has also spoken at local high schools and colleges regarding human trafficking issues within the state of Florida. Giselle is also one of the Co Founder’s of both the Orlando Rescue and Restore Coalition and the Tampa Bay Rescue and Restore. The Tampa Bay Rescue and Restore solely focuses on the issue of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Due to her knowledge and experience in the field of human trafficking, Giselle has been able to collaborate and volunteer as a trainer for the Organization of America States Anti Trafficking in Persons Unit. Through the volunteer opportunity through the OAS, Giselle has been able to train law enforcement officials, immigration officials, Judges, prosecutors and Consular officials on the issue of human Trafficking in countries such as Jamaica, St. Kitts and various other countries throughout the Caribbean.

 

Giselle has also coordinated several street outreach events throughout the Tampa Bay area. During one of the outreach events in Wimuama, Giselle and her volunteers were able to identify 3 potential labor trafficking victims. These 3 men in turn lead Giselle and The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office to an additional 4 male victims. Giselle was also the event coordinator for the outreach event that took place during Superbowl 43 in Tampa. During this particular outreach event, over 40 volunteers participated and numerous leads on potential cases were provided to local law enforcement. The Superbowl outreach was such a success that is was conducted during Superbowl 44 in Miami and Superbowl 45 in Dallas, Texas. In 2010, Giselle decided to do a similar type of outreach during the Florida Classic in Orlando. This event was successful as one young woman was rescued and various other leads for law enforcement were produced.  Additional Bio...

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Memphis

 

Jonathan Skrmetti is an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, where he is assigned to the Civil Rights Unit in Memphis. Previously, he worked as a prosecutor with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jonathan has investigated and prosecuted human traffickers in both jobs. Before joining the Department of Justice, he clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Jonathan earned degrees from George Washington University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.

 

Special Agent, FBI

 

Special Agent Gregory T. Christopher is assigned to the Tampa Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. SA Christopher is creator and lead agent on the Tampa Area Crimes Against Children (TACAC) Task Force. The Task Force consists of agents from the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Tampa Police Department.

 

The Task Force combats Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking through recovering juvenile victims involved in prostitution and prosecuting those individuals who exploit these victims for sex. SA Christopher's team has been a leader in the fight against minor sex trafficking with 180 arrests, 55 rescues, 6 state and 6 federal prosecutions.