As studies raise alarms over a worrying rise in reported sex trafficking activity, a Milwaukee man was sentenced Friday to over six decades in prison on multiple counts of the felony.
Attorney General Brad Schimel announced that after a joint investigation between state and local police, Kevin Robinson, 27, was found to have coordinated the sex trafficking of multiple female victims, some of whom were underage.
“Buying sex is not a victimless crime, as evidenced by the numerous women trapped in Kevin Robinson’s human trafficking ring,” Schimel said. “Wisconsin’s law enforcement communities, on all levels, federal, state, and local, share a common mission and are united in disrupting human trafficking, helping survivors, and prosecuting perpetrators.”
Investigators discovered that beyond trafficking, Robinson had kidnapped a 17-year-old girl, assaulted her and subsequently tied her up and burnt her to death inside of a flaming car.
Schimel created a special task force within the justice department to tackle the issue after the number of reported cases in Wisconsin more than doubled between 2012 and 2016, from 27 to 65.
The task force has focused on cracking down on buyers, who are often more easily identified than victims and organizers.
“These individuals are the ones who are creating the demand,” Schimel said on Milwaukee Public Radio. “If they’re willing to pay for sex with people who are being trafficked, therefore, that’s why the traffickers engage in this and have people working in modern day slavery."
According to a report by the Medical College of Wisconsin, an estimated 340 cases of sex trafficking occurred in Milwaukee alone between 2013 and 2016.
Women, especially women of color, those in poverty and those who had experienced abuse or neglect as a juvenile made up a vast majority of the believed victims and survivors.
“Slightly more than half of the individuals identified were juveniles when they were trafficked,” the report stated. “However, the vast majority of all individuals who were identified as victims of sex trafficking had challenges in their youth, including being reported as a missing person and involvement with the child welfare system. When these challenges are addressed early, rates of victimization may decrease.”
Though Milwaukee has been identified as a hotbed of trafficking activity, recent busts have found rings all across the state.
Christopher Childs, 45, of Dodge County will be arraigned Thursday for allegedly forcing several women to prostitute themselves out of a local strip club.
"Dodge County residents have tolerated these types of establishments for far too long," said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, who represents the area. "We must act forcefully and quickly to give the victims and the community the protection they deserve.”
