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SALT LAKE CITY — There's been strong reaction from Utahns to criminal charges filed against a Salt Lake County mother accused of trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter's virginity.
Court documents show the woman made an arrangement to let a man take her daughter's virginity for $10,000. At first the girl agreed to the arrangement, but she later decided that she didn't want to.
The advocacy group Child Rescue says, unfortunately, family is often involved in sex trafficking cases.
"It's your mother, it's your father, it's your guardian, it's the one that you feel safe with that's telling you it's normal and that we need you to do it," says Celeste Lojik, director of community outreach at Child Rescue. "It's putting a large burden on the child, and causing a lot of conflict with them of what is normal and what should be going on."
Child Rescue will train local law enforcement about human trafficking next week, teaching officers how to spot victims, how to save them and how to prosecute the perpetrators.
