The Chronicle

Ex-prostitute shines light on child sex trade

Monday, June 20, 2011 By Corina Gallardo

By Corina Gallardo When April 22 arrives each spring, Carolyn Jean Jones celebrates her anniversary. The date does not mark her birthday, a marriage, or the birth of her daughter. Instead, it marks the day she left the grim street corners of Phoenix, leaving the abusive life of prostitution, drug use and despair she had lived since the age of 13. Jones was once one of the thousands of young girls each year who are lured, then trapped within America’s hidden illegal sex trade. Jones’ parents divorced when she was 5 years old, leaving her feeling “torn in two.” The divorce left her shocked, confused and feeling like she had to act differently around each new family her parents formed. If a problem occurred at one house, she would run to her other parent’s house. “Every time conflicts came or emotions came, or confusion came, I just ran,” she said. At the age of 13 Jones was sexually molested. She felt dirty, ashamed. “Here I was already not feeling good about myself,” she said. “My body had been violated.” She began self-medicating with alcohol. Eventually, she turned to marijuana to “cover up all the sadness.” Jones’ mother worked long hours, often working two jobs at a time. Her stepfather and brother’s frequent violent arguments often led to the drawing of guns. Jones, the middle child, was forced to take on the motherly role in her family, taking care of food and cleaning. Despite her mother’s absence, Jones said, “My mom did everything she could, so I didn’t have to become the girl I eventually became anyway.” Her life took another turn at 15, when Jones ran away from all her troubles and traded in her home for the street life of Phoenix. “The streets welcomed me, “ she said. “The men were telling me how pretty I looked. “ She heard the words she wished her father had said. For the first time, she felt special. “One day a man told me if I (would) go up to a motel with him, he would give me $100,” Jones said. She was still 15 years old at the time. She accepted, and when they arrived at the hotel the man explained exactly what he wanted her to do in order to earn that $100. With no place to stay and nowhere to go, Jones traded her body for the man’s money, beginning her life as a prostitute. Jones’ plight is not uncommon. An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked for sex each year, according to The United Nations Children’s Fund. Oftentimes, children as young as 5 are brought into the sex industry and forced to perform sexual acts against their will. The average age of a child prostitute is 13, according to the Department of Justice. About 450,000 children in the United States run away from home each year, one third of whom are lured into sex slavery within 48 hours of leaving home, according to a study by the Department of Justice. At the age of 16, Jones learned she was pregnant by her emotionally and physically abusive boyfriend. After losing custody of her child, Jones progressed to using crack cocaine to “numb the pain” while continuing with her use of marijuana and alcohol. She continued to prostitute herself and began selling drugs to support her crack cocaine addiction. She was arrested for selling drugs 11 years later and sentenced to 18 months at a drug rehabilitation center. “I told (the judge) I didn’t have a problem selling drugs. My problem was I used drugs,” Jones said. “If he could help me and send me to rehab, I could get myself together.” After the program, Jones stayed clean for 10 years. She got married and her daughter was returned to her. Jones even purchased a house. But before long, her life began to unravel. The marriage had fallen apart and the long hours she worked at local churches began taking their toll. Feeling overwhelmed, she returned to her life on the street. “I became a failure all over again,” Jones said. Soon after, her sister was killed during a rash of prostitute killings in Garfield, a historic district of Phoenix. Corey Morris, then 24, was convicted of several murders in the area. Morris lured prostitutes to his home with drugs and alcohol. There, he would kill them, and then dump the bodies in the Garfield area behind his uncle’s property. Four of the women who were found dead were Jones’ close friends. Investigating sex trafficking crimes presents a uniquely emotional task for law enforcement. “The biggest campaign is education, and then working aggressively when it is suspected that trafficking has occurred,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Special Agent Rick Crocker. He recalled a case in Memphis, where a prostitution ring trafficking young Latino females was identified. A 14-year-old girl was rescued from this ring, after being smuggled into the U.S. “It was a very emotional experience, and there was not a dry eye in the room,” Crocker said. Jones reached her tipping point at a Phoenix bus stop. The feeling she had nothing left to live for consumed her, she said. “I cried out to God and said, ‘Please get me out of this, I don’t want to live like this. Give me a chance to live again, a chance to get my life back… I’ll do whatever you say,’” Jones said. Her resurgence into life away from the streets may have come when she was bit by a poisonous spider. Jones was taken to a hospital for treatment. The bite forced her to stay in an extended care rest home for a month to recover. Once she left, she knew she could not return to the streets again. Instead of going home, she returned to a rehabilitation center for three months before working at a separate center where she eventually became a manager. She worked in that position for eight years before joining a program in Phoenix called Streetlight. The faith-based nonprofit organization, is funded solely by donations. The organization recently opened a chapter in Tucson. Its 2009 income was $1.13 million, according to tax documents. The program’s focus, along with awareness and prevention, is to bring relief and direct services to girls between ages 11 and 17, who have been prostituted or trafficked. Melody Bosna, a residential director at Streetlight, deals with the direct care and management of the girls, who average around the age of 15. The girls come to Streetlight either through FBI and law enforcement, or on their own. “I think one of the things that just stands out to me with working with this population is how amazingly resilient these children are,” Bosna said. “People tend to think these girls are simply deviant girls.” Today, Jones focuses on shining light upon the dark street corners, where young girls continue to sell their bodies. She speaks at schools, churches or anywhere else she can stop someone to trumpet her cause. And to the young, invisible victims of sex trafficking, her message is simple. “It is not about how they start, but how they finish,” Jones said. “Never give up hope.”