So we find this situation where we find these young victims, these young girls that all of a sudden are being treated and looked upon as criminals.”Īt least in that regard, Newell was fortunate when she was abducted two years ago. But what happens is when they’re trafficked, they’re turned into hookers they’re turned into prostitutes. “First of all, many of these kids are missing children. When they are forced into prostitution, the young people are the ones who are prosecuted, Klaas told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Thursday in New York. Like Newell, many are treated by law enforcement authorities as runaways, said Marc Klaas, who founded the advocacy group KlaasKids after his own 12-year-old daughter was abducted, raped and killed. You have scarred me for the rest of my life and you're just sitting there going on with your life like nothing is wrong.”Īs shocking as Newell’s story is, it is not unique, TODAY’s Natalie Morales said Thursday in a special report entitled “Sex Slaves in the Suburbs.” Advocates for girls and young women who are forced into prostitution by people who approach them in various ways, including on the Internet, claim that thousands of American youths are victims of human traffickers.

“I went out to the beach a few weeks ago and I saw the dude who raped me, and he just looked at me,” Newell told NBC News, her voice choking.