So, the state legislature is paying for the TBI to train officers on identifying human sex trafficking. This comes after a study revealed 85% of the state has reports of it, mostly girls 9 to 12 and with almost 50 in Hamilton County alone.
It’s a heinous crime that Chattanooga Police have just pinned on someone for the first time. Human sex trafficking isn’t new to our area, but the way it’s being handled criminally is.
State lawmakers and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations were in Chattanooga Friday for a town hall meeting discussing human trafficking. They talked about how big of a problem it is here and what we as a community can do to fight it.
Chattanooga Police arrested 31-year-old Khari Troutman Saturday. Officers say he was holding a woman against her will and prostituting her out through online ads.
Friday investigators explained it’s not the first human trafficking case in Chattanooga, but it is the first one prosecuted under new, stricter laws.
“Problem is a lot of time local law enforcement, they get confused between what is prostitution, kidnapping and human trafficking and it’s three different issues,” Rep. Eric Watson said.
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