Children trafficked by family members face challenges disclosing, escaping abuse

SHERIDAN — For years, popular media has controlled the public’s perception of sex trafficking, said Lt. Derek Morrell with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.

Movies like ‘Sound of Freedom,’ ‘Taken’ and ‘The Whistleblower’ depict sex trafficking as international crime rings and pimp-controlled operations where youth are taken from their homes. While this does account for some trafficking cases, it’s not all or even most. 

In 2017, the International Organization of Migration estimated 41% of child trafficking situations are facilitated by a family member or relative. Another 14% of cases are facilitated by an intimate partner and 11% by friends.

According to these numbers, more than half of trafficked children are being exploited right under the noses of their communities.

Wyoming Division of Victim Services Director Cara Chambers said Wyoming towns are not exempt from this. In fact, many communities may find themselves vulnerable to familial trafficking — when a family member exploits a child for sexual activity or labor in exchange for something of value.

“There can be a lot of familial, homegrown trafficking because we have rural communities,” Chambers said. “We’re seeing cases of families who are, for a lack of a better word, pimping out their children or intimate partners for money.”

Despite its proximity, Terri Markham, a Sheridan resident and executive director of the statewide anti-trafficking organization Uprising, said familial trafficking is difficult to catch. It isn’t advertised on websites or at truck stops, but it does live in the dark, Markham said, happening through existing community networks and perpetrators.

Markham said it’s also the most common type of trafficking she hears about, and one of her biggest concerns for Wyoming communities.

Manipulated relationships

Markham said familial trafficking can take on different forms, but one seems to be the most prevalent: a family member abuses a child and allows others to sexually abuse them in exchange for payment. 

Markham said the need for a parent to pimp out a child for money usually stems from a larger vulnerability. It may be poverty — and this payment is the way they get food on the table. Or it could be a drug addiction — and letting someone abuse their child is how they get their next hit. 

Charlie, a trafficking survivor, said his abuse started exactly like that. 

The Sheridan Press agreed not to publish Charlie’s last name, per his request, due to the sensitive nature of his experience as a victim of familial trafficking. 

He was only 8 years old.

Growing up in Connecticut, Charlie said his mother would facilitate abuse by selling him to people she knew. When the family moved to Las Vegas, Charlie said the trafficking escalated. His mother began walking up and down Fremont Street to pimp her middle-school-aged child.

“It went on and off for a while, just based on needs and necessities for the family,” Charlie said. “I believe she was looking for any way she could to supplement income, because every cent she made went straight to drugs.”

From his earliest years, Charlie said he lived in a volatile household, with his parents “beating the s--- out of each other.” He said visits from Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (Nevada DCFS) were frequent.

During this time, Charlie said he felt trapped in his situation, especially as a child with few relationships outside his family. 

Former Sheridan County School District 1 social worker Michele Fritz said parents who abuse their children use several manipulation tactics to keep children compliant. They may invoke feelings of shame to make the child feel responsible, use intense threats to keep them silent, and create what Fritz called a “twisted sense of loyalty,” convincing the child their exploitation is necessary for the family’s survival.

In Charlie’s situation, he said his mother often used his relationship with his younger brother against him.

“The protectiveness (I had) for my brother was one of the things my mom would use to keep me compliant,” Charlie said. “Any time I would try to push back, it was like, ‘If you don’t do this, then your brother isn’t going to get this. Or your brother is going to go to school hungry.’”

“This even affects me now, having a relationship that was so important to me being used against me,” Charlie continued. “That really sucks, and it creates trust issues for me today.”

Both Markham and Fritz said situations like this prevent children from speaking out about their situations and perpetuate the cycle of keeping these cases in the dark.

“It is so complex, because at the end of the day, if it’s their parent who is trafficking them, they still often love that parent,” Markham said. “What I see most often is they’ll go against (disclosing the abuse) because they don’t know what will happen if they report. Will the parent get arrested? Because they really still love that parent and they don’t want their life to change. Will they get thrown into a home? Will they get taken away? The not knowing is enough to keep them in the situation.”

Licensed clinical social worker and former Sheridan County School District 1 social worker Michele Fritz said it’s important to understand a “repeated pattern” of abuse may be tormenting the perpetrators as well.

“I don’t want to dehumanize anyone in this process, because most likely the people who are abusing have had something in their lives that is an unresolved trauma,” Fritz said. “It’s (about) creating a space where everybody gets to heal.”

Despite the frequent visits from Nevada DCFS, Charlie said he couldn’t speak up to disclose his experience. He also isn’t sure authorities ever dug deep enough to discover what was really happening.

“They would chat with my brother and me, and ask us, ‘Is anybody hurting you?’ And of course, I never wanted to tell on my mom. (The situation) sucked, but you hear all these horror stories of the foster system. I just kind of felt like all my chances (with my mom) were better, because I knew how that game worked,” Charlie said.

“I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see my little brother again,” he added. “(And) she was still my mother, and I still craved her attention and affection.”

Fritz said speaking out about the abuse opens a “can of worms.” When the police department and the Department of Family Services are involved to get the child to safety, they are drawn into a larger investigation. 

Markham said victims then enter the justice system with no guarantee of a conviction for their trafficker. Many aren’t eager to go through that process.

“You’re relying on the kids (to) say something happened, and then the parent, of course, has some explanation of their own,” Markham said. “(The victim) is going to be the one grilled on the stand. Their story is going to be picked apart. They’re going to have to reshare and reshare their trauma over and over.”

“The trauma doesn’t end,” Fritz said. “In fact, it probably gets worse.”

Running away from home at 16 did not free Charlie from the lasting impacts of what he endured. He joined the military at 18, and reconnected with his younger brother about four years later when his brother moved out of his mother’s house to live with Charlie. 

They have never pressed formal charges against her.

Mandatory reporting

Few statistics can quantify the extent of familial sex trafficking in Wyoming, or really any type of human trafficking, for that matter. 

A Federal Human Trafficking Report from 2021 documented zero human trafficking cases and zero convictions in Wyoming, with no convicted defendants or convicted victims. According to past reporting from The Sheridan Press, this isn’t necessarily true. Morrell said trafficking cases are often convicted under other names, like sexual assault or child abuse to more quickly protect victims.

Kelly Douglas, public information officer with the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said Wyoming had 1,723 child protection investigation cases involving an allegation of abuse from 2020 to 2025.  The state had less than 10 documented instances of possible trafficking during this time.

As per Wyoming’s Title 14 statutes, every person is a mandatory reporter of child abuse — meaning anyone with reasonable cause to suspect a child has been abused, or observes abuse, must immediately report it to the Wyoming Department of Family Services or local law enforcement.

For this reason, Markham brings a stack of index cards whenever she presents on human trafficking at Wyoming schools. Through the nonprofit Uprising, Markham makes these trips often, focusing on professional, parental and youth prevention.

On these notecards, Markham invites students to disclose abusive situations, but she doesn’t require names. She knows one word on the record often triggers a larger response — and the child may fear retaliation from a parent or separation from the rest of their family.

“(When) I go into a classroom, I start by telling the kids, ‘Hey, every adult here is a mandated reporter,’” Markham said. “I want them to know right away, because I don’t want to take away the choice for anyone.”

Like Wyoming, other states, including Nebraska, Utah and Idaho, also require every person to report child abuse to statewide authorities, according to data collected by the World Population Review. 

That’s not the case everywhere. 

In Colorado, for example, mandatory reporters of child abuse are limited to a list of professions including physicians, nurses, psychologists, school employees, licensed counselors, coaches and religious professionals, according to the Colorado Office of Children, Youth & Families. 

Montana Title 41 statutes require medical and mental health workers, religious leaders, school employees, social workers, law enforcement officers and other types of professionals to report child abuse or neglect.

Markham doesn’t believe Wyoming should change its policy on the number of mandatory reporters, but she does think people should understand the risks and stakes involved for children.

“Reports about trafficking may result in an investigation, but rarely result in a prosecution or being able to prove the abuse which leaves the youth in that situation,” Markham said.

On the front lines

Impacts of abuse create complex traumas, Fritz said, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder and difficulty forming healthy relationships.

Yet when children in an abusive situation can build a relationship with an adult they trust, Fritz said they are more empowered to share their situation and seek help.

For this reason, Fritz said schools are at the front lines of catching familial trafficking.

“From teachers to custodians to bus drivers to food service, everybody who is in contact with children (needs to be) eyes open, ears open,” Fritz said. “(We need to make sure) we’re paying really close attention to any changes that we notice in our kids, or conversations our kids are having.”

Often, Fritz and Markham say victims of familial trafficking may appear normal. They may be attending school, church or sports practices.

“They’re going to look on the surface like they’re just living a regular life,” Markham said. “What we don’t see is the second life that is happening in the evenings or on the weekends.”

Fritz said school employees should look for signs of abuse and sex trafficking with kids and contact their school counselor or social worker. This might include changes in school performance or attendance, shifts in demeanor such as withdrawal or aggression, excessive sexual knowledge, unexplained injuries or expensive and inappropriate items without a clear explanation as to how they were obtained.

When Charlie attended school in Las Vegas, he knew some people suspected abuse was happening in his home. He would sometimes arrive at school with bruises or sleep the entire day, prompting a call to Nevada DFCS. 

At school, he said his mom was paranoid about all of his teachers, even going as far as searching background information on them. During his seventh-grade year, Charlie said she discovered one of his teachers was a youth leader at a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation.

“She understood he did a lot of work with kids. I think the thought of his presence in my life became a threat for her,” Charlie said. “So the next day, she ran into my school’s counseling office and made a huge scene… for her to throw a huge fit over someone’s religion, which I doubt she actually cared about, that should have been a red flag for people.”

When Markham receives anonymous disclosures during classroom visits, she said teachers can help bridge the gap and empower students to seek help and disclose their situation.

“If it’s a classroom (visit), usually I’ll keep those (anonymous) cards together by class and go to to the teacher and say, ‘There was a disclosure about sextortion in your third period,’ or, ‘This kid wrote a comment that sounded like a red flag to me,’” Markham said. “Nine times out of 10, the teacher says, ‘I know exactly which kid this is.’”

Several organizations prioritize child and sexual abuse trainings, including the Sheridan County YMCA, which requires all of its staff to complete a staff training on child safety and abuse prevention. Sheridan County Memorial Hospital requires every employee to complete annual education, including one module about abuse, neglect and exploitation, according to Dave Hapka, clinical nursing educator.

Wyoming Senate File 93, signed into law in 2018, required school districts to provide instruction to students and staff on child sexual abuse education prevention and response. Chase Christensen, superintendent of Sheridan County School District 3, said the district holds trainings in accordance with this law, and each staff member signs off saying they have completed this training each year.

Sheridan County Sheriff Levi Dominguez said his office also attends regular training — many available statewide through Uprising's professional training program.

Charlie said listening to an Uprising presentation in his 20s was the first time he fully understood what trafficking was. He said the conversations during that presentation resonated heavily with his childhood experiences.

“That had such a profound impact on me,” Charlie said. “I had gone so long without knowing.”

While Charlie knew he had been sexually abused as a child, he said trafficking never came up into the conversation. He wants other victims to have safe spaces to unpack their trauma and begin the path toward healing.

“If you don’t know you were trafficked, you’re missing a whole piece of that recovery,” Charlie said. “So I think the language we use is very important.”

Now, Charlie educates individuals on human trafficking-related issues as an advocate alongside Markham. He said law enforcement officers and other professionals often tell him they’ve had instances where they have suspected trafficking, but they couldn’t follow up.

He encourages everyone to trust their gut. 

“If something feels off, it’s probably because something’s off,” Charlie said. “And if you’re walking into a situation and it doesn’t feel resolved, then maybe you’re not done there.”

This story was published on March 23, 2026.