The U. Given recent headlines, few might be surprised to find that Vero Beach down through Miami is among the worst problem areas for what Indian River County law enforcement bluntly calls modern day slavery. But communities on the east coast are not isolated anomalies in a state known best for its sunshine and beaches. Florida comes it at No. Southwest Florida — nearly the entire Gulf Coast — is also marked as tainted with what is nothing less than a cancer that festers beneath the surface of illegal or misused immigration from countries that move women and children much as they traffic drugs; beneath the surface of preyed-upon runaways, an estimated 88 percent of whom were in state care before they ran.
A couple of years ago, a year-old Lehigh girl was lured by traffickers offering a job as was a year-old Cape Coral girl. The Lehigh child was found out of state and returned home.
Police could have done what is typical — send in some undercover officers and make an arrest or two for prostitution. Instead, investigators aimed a lot higher, formulating a case not only against the spa operators but alleged customers, including some with serious name recognition, including, but not limited to, billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots.
Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two counts of soliciting prostitution. We commend the police effort, which includes surreptitious recording to secure evidence for prosecution. But we ask, not law enforcement, but ourselves and those following this story that has been reported nationwide: Would this tip-of-the-iceberg case have gotten the attention it has if billionaires and big names were not among the alleged clients? And that blind eye is, perhaps, what makes the sexual servitude possible and its purveyance so profitable.
The Vero Beach investigation began with a tip from a health inspector, someone who did not turn a blind eye to the conditions in which these women were existing. By Staff Mar 6,
