4TheOne Foundation and their Struggle Against a Hidden Crime
Guest Blog By Matt Solomon
“Stopping trafficking completely requires a community-based 10-20 year strategy of systematically strengthening families and reducing childhood traumas. It can be done, but will have to be more of a grassroots, bottom-up community movement vs a top-down legislative response.”
-Dennis Ozment, Founder and Executive Director of 4 The One Foundation
The Struggle
According to a report that resulted from a survey taken by the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council, human trafficking is the fastest-growing crime on the planet. Not only is it a fast-growing crime, it’s a hidden one. In Denton, Texas, there is an organization that employs the skills of a special group of people. They identify, investigate, and report “on active sex trafficking rings in North Texas.” This is the 4theOne Foundation.
4TO is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that locates and recovers missing and exploited teens. The technology they use, along with specially trained volunteers, aids families of missing teens and police in their “search efforts.” 4TO are in the fight “against modern-day slavery” and have “resolved to continue searching” for the missing and exploited until they are all found and returned home. “Licensed private investigators and professionals with experience in law enforcement, education, social services, mental health, and medical fields make up their team of volunteers. The nonprofit was established to “build credibility,” so that they could be “a legitimate and trusted source of help for families, law enforcement, and other “nonprofits in recovering vulnerable children.”
Dennis Ozment is the organization’s founder and Executive Director, and a licensed investigator. In 2014, he volunteered to help locate missing children, with a couple of organizations. “Both of those organizations later shifted, but several of us that worked cases together during that time continued to locate kids throughout 2015 while also searching for a nonprofit to volunteer with,” Ozment said. “When we found there wasn’t another nonprofit in the North Texas area doing this work,” he continued, “we decided to form 4theONE in December of 2015 which enabled us to build more credibility with the community and law enforcement agencies.”
The number of volunteers, which included one private investigator, has gone from four “to over 35 active volunteers, including 19 private investigators.” They have teams based in Denton, Dallas, and Fort Worth that serve the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the “surrounding suburbs.” They’ve not only helped families, but they’ve also helped “local and federal law enforcement agencies, Child Protective Services (CPS), and Sex Trafficking Victim Agencies.”
They have “assisted in” over 370 “recoveries of minors.” These recoveries include “more than 200 victims of sex trafficking and exploitation.” Half of all of whom they’ve recovered “are survivors of exploitation and sex trafficking,” with the youngest victim being 12 years old. While they primarily focus on rescuing minors, they have helped recover some adults. Ozment said that of the 370+ cases they’ve worked, “four were adults and diminished mental capacity was a factor in each of those cases.”
What happens after someone has been recovered? “Next steps vary depending on the circumstances,” Ozment said. “If they are recovered in a trafficking, exploitation or abuse situation,” he continued, “law enforcement contacts their local Child Advocacy Center for services and either Traffick911 or Unbound Now for their crisis response advocates. If they are recovered without those indicators, they are generally returned to their parent/guardian or to CPS custody. Unfortunately, this means many kids who need additional services like therapy or rehab are left without help because their family’s health insurance doesn’t cover the needed services and most families cannot afford the costs which can range as high as $15,000 per month.”
The work done by 4TO doesn’t get done without any challenges, however. Given the nature of the work that they do, everyone must find a way to bring balance to their lives. For some, that means stepping away for a while before coming back to continue doing very crucial work. “What we do is definitely a challenge both because much of what we do requires spending a lot of time searching through some of the nastiest parts of the internet, and because the traumas these kids endure are heart wrenching,” Ozment said. “We have an amazing core of volunteers who have been with us for 5-7 years,” he continued. “And others who work with us for 6-12 months before they step away. We do our best to emphasize self-care and remind our volunteers that the wellbeing of their family always takes priority over a case. We will find a way to cover for them when they need to take a break.”
4TO isn’t the only organization in North Texas doing this important work. According to Ozment there aren’t many “reputable organizations that assist in recovering missing minors, but for those out there that are legit we do what we can to assist them with their cases and vice-versa.” 4TO started “assisting in more cases outside” of their “local service area,” in 2022. he continued, “We have data analysis, image/video analysis, and digital forensics capabilities that most organizations do not have. We had great success this year with our analysis capabilities directly leading to the recovery of kids who were being sex-trafficked, and are raising additional funding to increase the number of cases we can work so we can assist with more cases in North Texas and beyond.”
The Problem
The Texas penal code defines “traffic” as “to transport, entice, recruit, harbor, provide, or otherwise obtain another person by any means.” Texas penal code §20A identifies four types of human trafficking. The first two are adult sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Both occur when adults are trafficked for “commercial sex,” or labor by force, fraud, or coercion.” The other two are child sex trafficking and child labor trafficking. Both occur when either “children” or a child “under the age of 18 are trafficked for commercial sex by any means,” or are trafficked “for labor by force, fraud, or coercion.” Transporting or moving a victim is not needed.
All be it a criminal one, it is a billion-dollar industry that “denies freedom” to millions of people worldwide. The Human Trafficking Hotline defines human trafficking as “the business of stealing freedom for profit.” Anyone can fall prey to human trafficking. “Significant risk factors include recent migration or reflection, substance use, mental health concerns, involvement with the child welfare system, and being a runaway or homeless youth.”
The International Labor Organization published a report, in 2017. The report, which included data provided by agencies of the United Nations (UN), “in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),” stated that in 2016, there were “40 million people” who “were victims of modern slavery. In the previous 5 years (from 2011 to 2016), according to this 2017 report, “89 million people” had “experienced some form of modern slavery for periods of time” lasting from “a few days to the whole 5 years.” These figures have increased, according to their 2021 report. Said estimates are also conservative given the “limitations of the data.”
What is to be Done?
Traffickers most often employ physically, psychologically, economically, and emotionally abusive tactics. They “identify and leverage their victims’ vulnerabilities in order to create dependency,” as a means of control. They isolate victims from their friends and families. “They make promises aimed at addressing the needs of their target.” This causes “victims” to “become trapped and fear leaving for a myriad of reasons, including psychological trauma, shame, emotional attachment, or physical threats to themselves or their family.” While “victims and survivors of human trafficking” vary demographically, “some forms of trafficking are more likely to affect specific ethnic groups.”
Traffickers also vary demographically. Some are wealthy, privileged, and powerful. “Others experience the same socio-economic oppression as their victims.” Some are “business owners, [or] members of a gang or a network.” Others are “parents or family members of victims, intimate partners, owners of restaurants or farms, and powerful corporate executives and government representatives.” So, what is to be done?
Ending modern slavery, according to the International Labor Organization, “would require addressing a number of issues that contribute to vulnerability and enable abuses.” Those issues are social, economic, cultural, and legal in nature, and “responses need to be adapted to the diverse environments in which modern slavery still occurs.” A way to “affect” those systemic issues and “vulnerabilities that can push people into modern slavery” is a stronger social safety net. This includes improved protections for migrants through “improved migration governance,” and improved protections for all victims of forced labor and sexual exploitation, especially those who are exploited in the commercial sex industry.
Ozment said that while 4theONE has the technology to do the work that needs to be done on their end, they “can’t end all trafficking.” Due to issues with funding, they are not able to increase their “capacity.” He continued, “we could reduce the number of adult and multi-generational trafficking victims by recovering hundreds of kids each year in Texas and beyond. Stopping trafficking completely requires a community-based 10-20 year strategy of systematically strengthening families and reducing childhood traumas. It can be done, but will have to be more of a grassroots, bottom-up community movement vs a top-down legislative response.”
If you would like to help out and volunteer for 4TheOne, click here. If you would like to donate, click here.
Also, if you would like to know more about human trafficking and its impacts, then check out the following:
Brown, C. (2019). Free cyntoia: My search for redemption in the American prison system. Atria Books. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Free-Cyntoia/Cyntoia-Brown-Long/9781797104621
Brown, J. (2021). Perversion of justice the Jeffrey Epstein Story. Harper Collins Publishers. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/perversion-of-justice-julie-k-brown?variant=32269378093090
Allert, J. (2022). Domestic Minor Familial Sex Trafficking: A National Study of Prevalence, Characteristics, and Challenges across the Justice Process. Institute for Shelter Care. https://instituteforsheltercare.org/familial/
Sources
Office of the attorney general initiatives | office of the attorney general. (n.d.). https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/divisions/human-trafficking/TXHTPCC-StrategicPlan2020.pdf
Foundation, 4theO. N. E. (2021, March 12). Recovering missing and sex-trafficked children. 4theONE Foundation. Retrieved August 21, 2022, from https://4theone.org/recovering-missing-and-sex-trafficked-children/
Solomon, M., Ozment, D. (2022, October 23-2023, January 3). Email Interview with Dennis Ozment.
https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking
Organization, I. L., Foundation, W. F. (2017). (publication). Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage (pp. 4–18). Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office. Retrieved August 21, 2022, from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_575479.pdf
Global estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and forced marriage. Report: Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage. (2022). https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/publications/WCMS_854733/lang--en/index.htm
U.S. Department of State. (2020). What is modern slavery? - united states department of state. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/what-is-modern-slavery/
U.S. Department of State. (2022). 2022 trafficking in persons report - united states department of state. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/
Attorney General, O. of the. (n.d.). Texas Statistics on Human Trafficking. Texas Statistics on Human Trafficking | Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/human-trafficking-section/what-human-trafficking/texas-statistics-human-trafficking
Attorney General, O. of the. (n.d.). What is Human Trafficking? What is Human Trafficking? | Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved August 23, 2022, from https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/human-trafficking-section/what-human-trafficking
For human trafficking red flags as identified by Texas’ Office of the Attorney General, click here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/divisions/human-trafficking/HT_labor_redflags_handout_accessible.pdf
Attorney General, O. of the. (n.d.). Education materials. Education Materials | Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/human-trafficking-section/what-human-trafficking/education-materials
Penal code chapter 20A. trafficking of persons. (n.d.). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.20A.htm
Myths & Facts. National Human Trafficking Hotline. (n.d.). https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/myths-misconceptions
Valle, L. del, & Levenson, E. (2021, December 6). Ghislaine Maxwell said Jeffrey Epstein needed to have sex three times a day, woman testifies. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/06/us/ghislaine-maxwell-trial/index.html
Gajanan, M. (2021, April 30). Jeffrey Epstein Sex trafficking case: Everything we know. Time. https://time.com/5621911/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-what-to-know/
Heath, B. (2016, January 21). FBI ran website sharing thousands of child porn images. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/21/fbi-ran-website-sharing-thousands-child-porn-images/79108346/