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SALT LAKE CITY — They go into the darkest corners of the world and work with law enforcement to rescue children from slavery. Now a Utah-based non-profit is bringing its focus closer to home.
Since its inception a little over two years ago, Operation Underground Railroad has conducted 43 rescue missions. They've helped authorities arrest 157 people in 12 different countries. Most of that work has been overseas.
"It's kids being trafficked, kidnapped. This is the fastest growing enterprise on earth," said Timothy Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad. "It's time to look outside the box."
Child sexual exploitation happens close to 200,000 times a year right here in the United States according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Ballard wants to help law enforcement fight this problem by working in a private-public partnership.
"We can just move in ways they can't," he said. "We can get resources in ways they can't."
It hasn't been easy convincing U.S. government agencies to team up with a private organization.
"As soon as people will open up to this idea, we'll be able to double or triple the amount of rescues we are doing as a people here in the United States," Ballard said.
"This is a problem everywhere, and we need resources dedicated to this," said Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez with Washington State Patrol.
Rodriguez is commissioned to fight child exploitation across the entire state of Washington. He teamed up with Operation Underground Railroad about six months ago because his small task force needed help.
"Right now my task force is me and another detective," he said.
OUR provided resources so Rodriguez's team could set up sting operations.
"They're coming to rape children. There's no other way to say it," said Rodriguez as he described a couple of videos of those sting operations.
The first video showed 25-year-old Nikolaus Matthews arriving at the door.
"He thinks he's coming to have sex with a woman and her 14-year-old daughter," Rodriguez said.
Matthews quickly learned the woman who answered the door was actually an undercover police officer when officers stormed into the room with guns drawn yelling, "Police! Get down, get down, get down!"
Another video showed 61-year-old Randy Kranz arriving with cash and condoms.
"He was planning to pay for sex with an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old," said Rodriguez. "I can't think of a charge that's more horrendous than hurting a child."
The Washington task force conducted a series of similar busts. Six children were rescued from some of the suspects' homes, and so far, 27 people have been arrested in Washington thanks to OUR funding.
"Without their support, there's no way we would have been able to do the missions that we have. We maybe could have done one night and got one person," Rodriguez said.
Ballard said OUR is currently working with five different jurisdictions in the United States. He said his team can provide training on how to find child predators, help fund sting operations and provide experienced undercover operatives to help with the busts.
"There are so many tools that are so incredible, and it breaks my heart when I go to other jurisdictions here in the United States and they say, 'I don't have that tool.' And I'm thinking what?" Ballard said.
Ballard said OUR's success is catching the attention of agencies across the country, and he expects to do a lot more work here in the United States in the coming year.
"They're recognizing that this private-public model is the future to rescuing trafficked victims," he said.
Ballard said Utah's Internet Crimes Against Children's Task Force is doing an excellent job of fighting child sexual exploitation. He called Utah a model for other states.
A motion picture, called "The Abolitionists," documenting some of OUR's rescue missions will be shown in theaters across the nation on May 16.
