Feds cobbled criminal cases together in missing children operation, creating false perception
Public announcements about the operation, vague on details but full of loaded terms, led to weeks of social media misinformation about the breakup of a massive child sex trafficking ring in Georgia. “39 kids were just recovered from traffickers in Georgia,” went a common Twitter trope.
Shareef faces two misdemeanor charges related to the raid, neither of them sex-related. But his jail booking photo spread around the world under headlines such as “U.S. Marshals Find 39 Missing Children During Massive Sex Trafficking Bust In Georgia — 9 Suspects Arrested.” He and his mother told the AJC that angry people have been pulling up to their house, accusing him of sex trafficking or sexually abusing a 3-year-old. One group brandished guns and challenged Shareef to step outside and fight, he said.
“They’re calling me a sex offender,” Shareef said. “They’re calling me a child molester. It just hurts.”
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I read the huffpost article, which was on the cited story, and must say that it is one of the best articles that sheds any light on the reality of the situation and how screwed up and misinformed the public is. These new sensational terms like “trafficked” and “missing” are used to instill fear in society. Trafficked can include illegal labor as well as some other categories and not just sex work. Missing is not the same as abducted but the gen population knows no different. But the article did actually say that last year 115 kids were abducted in the US. That is far different than one every 40 seconds.
What i take from the whole ordeal is that child sexual abuse is a complex topic that most people can’t discuss without wanting a witch hunt. Infact i think some just want to seek revenge on anyone as long as society doesn’t disapprove. Only a fraction of the people actually care enough to ask the difficult questions about the real problem at hand. And the answers/solutions to the problems are not what most want to hear. I think something like only 7 girls ever got out of the cycle in Atlanta and that was over 15 years.
Its sad that our government has made such a mess of itself.