Editorial Note: After publication of this piece, Michael Kohlmeyer was declared not guilty. The jury’s previous verdict noted below was overturned by Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn. Reports indicate that the Nashville District Attorney’s Office plan to appeal this ruling.

He wanted to buy girls “just over 8, not over 16.” That’s what Michael Kohlmeyer told the person answering responses to an online ad for sex.  Thankfully for our children, the person answering the phone was actually an undercover Metro Nashville (TN) police detective.

Men wanting to purchase sex with a child are, unfortunately, not uncommon. What sets Mr. Kohlmeyer apart is that he was the defendant in the Davidson County (Nashville) District Attorney’s Office’s first successful prosecution of a customer of sex trafficking under Tennessee’s enhanced human sex trafficking laws. Kohlmeyer was found guilty of Trafficking for a Commercial Sex Act—convicted of offering to pay $5,000 for sex with a 12-year-old girl and sentenced to 22 years imprisonment.

The case was built on a 2014 law increasing the penalty for patronizing a prostituted person who is under 18 from a Class E felony to a Class B felony, and to a Class A felony for victims under 15.

During Kohlmeyer’s sentencing hearing, End Slavery Tennessee called on a strong volunteer base to pack a courtroom that would have otherwise stood virtually empty. Our intent was to send a clear message that the community cared and would not tolerate the purchase of our children.

Prosecuting those who purchase sex with minors under trafficking laws is one of the tools Tennessee now uses to stem the tide of demand for purchased sex. As with any business, if demand decreases, so does the motivation for suppliers.

In other approaches to lessen demand, End Slavery Tennessee (ESTN) uses a curriculum from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (C.A.A.S.E.) with middle and high school boys. These sessions leverage an interactive approach to engage young men in dialogue about the sex trade and empower them to stand as allies against sexual exploitation and violence.

ESTN also teaches a session in the local John school, letting men arrested for soliciting prostituted persons know that their choices drive human trafficking of children. And we educate the participants that adult prostituted women invariably have been abused as children, often multiple times, and that customers perpetuate the abuse when they buy sex.

We’ve shared on our social media and in trainings the excellent research and infographics from Shared Hope’s Demanding Justice Project.

In May 2015, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) agents conducted an undercover operation to identify potential victims of trafficking, arrest those seeking to purchase illicit sex, and learn more about the specific nuances of this type of crime. Among the fourteen men arrested were a pastor, an Army lieutenant, a farmer, and a small business owner. Their names were printed in local newspapers and on local news media sites.

Law enforcement and prosecutors are very much in the game now in Tennessee, thanks to strengthened laws, effective NGO partnership, years of awareness and education efforts and now the energized and organized efforts of those who enforce and prosecute. Other states take notice—our traffickers now seek relocation to a more hospitable business climate. By employing such tools and efforts in every state, we can drive many traffickers out of business.

Dear John,

We are on to you.

If you pay for sex, you might get a child, and be guilty for your role in child sex trafficking– the abduction, rape, and slavery of children.

So hear us when we say: If you shop for our children we will see that you get the justice you deserve.

Sincerely,

Us

Go here to sign the letter.

Curled up on the cold tile floor of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s bathroom floor, I tried to regulate my breathing by placing my hand over my heart and humming the nursery rhythm “You are My Sunshine,” while tears poured out uncontrollably from the depths of my soul. One of my dearest friends in DC, reached underneath the stall as she tried to coax me to unlock the latch, but between the wails I laid frozen as I couldn’t find the strength to lift my head, let alone get myself off the floor. Calmly, she talked to me under the stall, patiently waiting for my panic attack to subside. I was finally able to peel myself off the floor and over to open the stark stall door and into the warm loving arms of an amazing friend on the other side.

It has been 17 years since the last time I found myself sitting on the white sheets in the cold white room, with vaulted ceilings and bright lights. Those are the same 17 years I have spent trying to forget the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings I experienced in that chilling room. It may be 17 years, but in that instant it felt like I was eleven years old and it was happening all over again.

I was excited to tour the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) Headquarters and learn more about what they do to help victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Once we arrived to the Child Sexual Exploitation’s Child Victim Identification Program, which “serves as the central repository in the U.S. for information relating to child victims depicted in sexually exploitive images and videos,” our tour guide explained how the unit has reviewed more than 132 million images and videos since it began in 2002. [1] Their focus is to assist federal and state law enforcement agencies and prosecutors with child pornography investigations, plus to help law enforcement identify child victims so law enforcement can locate and rescue them from exploitive situations.

I listened intently but nodded uncomfortably as she spoke, but then she said something that had never crossed my mind before. Something that was so unimaginable to me that the world would instantly start moving in slow motion the moment she spoke.

“We are constantly cataloging series. We still get photos from the 80’s and 90’s on a regular basis.” I instantly gripped the wall behind me as I felt the ground beneath me start to fall away.

“The 80’s and 90’s…,” I thought.

I had never let myself imagine that the images of my 11-13 year old self, being sexually abused by multiple men, were still floating in cyber space. Let alone; still be traded as part of the “game.”

The notion that sexual exploitation is solely the result/responsibility of those partaking in the picture or physical abuse is beyond me. Maybe, because members of “normal” society can hardly wrap their minds around the act itself, the public cannot see how the abuse is fueled by those who “only” view child pornography.

Rare is it that someone will walk into a XXX store and purchase C.P. (child pornography) although it does happen. More often than not, it is online in a masked chatroom or on the darknet. The majority of those engaged in these “clubs, rooms, societies, etc.” participate in what is known as “Pic4Pic.” In essence, it means “I will trade you a picture of child pornography I own for a picture you own.” This allows the “members” to screen for law enforcement and see if the new buyer has “quality” images.

Unfortunately, this fuels the cycle of violence because any imagery that is easily obtainable for a new C.P. viewer is going to be old, out of date, and most likely already owned by other members. In my case, I became the way for one individual to have new photos that he could trade. Over time, it only progressed and he went from trading my pictures to trading me.

This is why it is so crucial for individuals, organizations, and legislatures to stand behind bills such as Texas’ House Bill 2291, which increases the classifications and penalties for subsequent felonies regarding individuals who own child pornography. After the initial abuse, the continued emotional, mental, and even physical damage that viewers of child pornography force upon their victims, by “only” looking, is insurmountable. Unlike the abusers themselves, the viewers victimize child after child, then adult after adult, over and over again, as they continue to use and share the images worldwide.

Some people argue that viewing pornography, whether child or adult, is a victimless crime because the abuse itself has passed. However, lying on the hard cold floor of the NCMEC bathroom, feeling the life drift out of me as I began to lose consciousness from my lack of oxygen, I didn’t feel victimless. I felt like the little girl sitting on the white sheets in the cold white room, with a vaulted ceiling, bright lights, and colder harder hands unbuttoning the back of my dress, but this time, millions of men were watching.

—

Kim is a survivor of child sex trafficking and is an advocate through public policy and legislation for victims’ rights. She works with domestic sex trafficking victims who are actively engaged in the lifestyle and law enforcement agencies who want a better understanding of how to work with victims’ who are still bonded with their traffickers. Her organization, Restoration Initiative, is currently working towards an emergency shelter for victims in West Texas. She earned her Pre-Law Bachelor’s degree from Lubbock Christian University in Texas. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. pursuing a duel Master’s degree of Public Policy & Public Administration. She will eventually run for Congress, and win.

[1] http://www.missingkids.com/CVIP

To:

Arizona Office of the Attorney General
County Attorney’s Office of Apache County
County Attorney’s Office of Cochise County
County Attorney’s Office of Coconino County
County Attorney’s Office of Gila County
County Attorney’s Office of Graham County
County Attorney’s Office of Greenlee County
County Attorney’s Office of La Paz County
County Attorney’s Office of Maricopa County
County Attorney’s Office of Mohave County
County Attorney’s Office of Navajo County
County Attorney’s Office of Pima County
County Attorney’s Office of Pinal County
County Attorney’s Office of Santa Cruz County
County Attorney’s Office of Yavapai County
County Attorney’s Office of Yuma County

Dear County Attorney,

Men are buying sex with children during the Super Bowl. Unless we do something about this now, buyers will use the Super Bowl in Arizona as an opportunity to exploit even more children.

And this impacts us all.

If a buyer engages in commercial sex with any minor under 18 years old in Arizona during the Super Bowl and receives little to no consequences for his crime, he won’t be deterred from committing the same crime again in his home state. This puts all of our nation’s children at risk.

Arizona is perfectly positioned to be a strong opponent to those who seek to exploit our children while they are in Arizona for the Super Bowl. Arizona law enforcement agencies are trained to aggressively investigate the demand for sex with children and you are committed to bringing justice to all minor victims of trafficking by prosecuting and sentencing buyers who exploit them.

We are asking you to ensure that buyer prosecutions are made a priority. We, along with Shared Hope International, stand behind Arizona’s 15 County Attorney’s Offices and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in prosecuting buyers arrested in Arizona for buying sex with a child to the fullest extent of the law. Effective prosecutions of buyers include significant fines and felony penalties, asset forfeiture, and payment of restitution to victims. Buyers will be deterred if the risk of arrest and full prosecution is real.

Let buyers know Arizona’s Not Buying It and bring a unified front to enforce zero tolerance for child sex trafficking, including attacking it at the root: the buyers. Let’s tell buyers, if they exploit a child in Arizona, they better plan to stay awhile – in jail!

Thank you for protecting Arizona’s children from buyers at the Super Bowl.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Sign the petition:

Visit demandingjustice.org/take-action for other ways to contribute to this cause!