Over 1,000 Children Missing in Northern Ohio
Mary Accipiter previously asked an obvious question after the Hawaii fire disaster, “Where are all the children in Maui? Her question was stimulated by the enormous number of children not returning to school after the tragedy. Speculation replaces facts because the information from government officials and media is nonexistent. The fire was ignited at the beginning of August, and the latest death toll is an incredulous number of 97 victims, a number down from previous assessments of 115. The reported number does not differentiate between adults and children, nor does it remotely answer the question as to the whereabouts of the young ones.
As disturbing as the ongoing story coming out of Hawaii, the State of Ohio is also experiencing a similar problem of missing children. Since May of this year, the New York Post reports that 1,000 children are reported missing from northern Ohio. Unlike Hawaii, where the disaster displaced many from their homes, the same can’t be said about Ohio. The same question we asked before is applicable again: Where are the children of northern Ohio?
David Yost, the Attorney General of Ohio, downplays the trend of missing children in his state by suggesting the problem has been exaggerated by Cleveland Police not updating their reports. Yost, in a roundabout way, is trying to place the reason for the vast number of children missing as voluntary runaways yet to be verified by police department records. Hence, the number looks higher than it should. Even if this is the case, it is hard to believe that all 1,000 children missing have been accounted for.
At the early stages of the investigation, Yost may be trying to calm the concerned public with his comment, but it doesn’t bring these children back. Regardless, even if all 1000 children leave their homes voluntarily, they are extremely vulnerable to unscrupulous traffickers, gangs, and other criminal elements.
The human trafficking business is BIG business. According to the advocacy group Collaborative to End Human Trafficking forced slavery exists in every state of the Union. The group estimates that 21 million people are being trafficked each year worldwide, with 54% of the victims being female. It is also surmised that human trafficking generates over 150 billion a year in forced labor and 99 billion from forced sexual exploitation.
Human trafficking is insidious because it forces human beings into slavery, often by violence and sexual abuse. Those victims who fall into the underworld of trafficking may be manipulated into trusting the abductor who promises to care for them. Soon, the façade of help is dropped, and the oppressors demand the victims engage in low-skilled labor or prostitution against their will. In most cases, young children who run away have been molested in their homes first. These children become easy targets for traffickers because their innocence has already been destroyed.
A common perception of those who profit from human trafficking are the criminal elements of society outside of plain view. Nothing can be further from the truth. In 2021 Attorney General Yost broke up a group of socially acceptable people that raped sex-trafficked children. Among those complicit in exploiting minors were a Democratic politician, wealthy elites, a firefighter, a teacher, a professor, and a commercial pilot. In all, over 160 individuals were arrested. Like drugs, the demand for illicit sexual encounters is rising, fueling the sex trafficking business. The need for cheap labor is immoral and a driving force in abducting children.
As unsavory as the topic is, Christians and all good-willed people need to be informed about what is happening in almost every neighborhood in the country. Human trafficking is a scourge upon civilized societies everywhere. The topic needs to be front and center of public discourse along with the unacceptable amount of child abuse happening in many homes, which begins the cycle of human slavery for many of these poor children.
Become informed and support organizations working against human trafficking, and pray for those poor children who are victims of this barbaric practice.