On Monday, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson released the 2020 human trafficking report, which showed a change in South Carolina’s top five counties and a decrease in annual cases.
Here are the top 5 counties for human trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline:
- Horry county
- Charleston county
- Greenville County
- Richland County
- Anderson County
Anderson County was not in the top five in 2019. Dorchester came out of the top five in this year’s report. This was the second year in a row that Horry County was at the top of the list.
Wilson said the top five counties do not necessarily have the majority of human trafficking, but they do have more resources to help identify and report human trafficking.
“Counties with active regional human trafficking task forces have raised awareness of crime and how to report it, so being one of the top counties may be because it is more reported, not because it is happening there more,” the statement said.
Ten defendants were charged with trafficking in persons in South Carolina state courts last year, Wilson told a news conference on Monday.
In 2020, there were 139 reported cases of human trafficking – which is less than the 156 in 2019.
Director of the Department of Social Services Michael Leach said the number of child trafficking increased 178 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said experts remain concerned about the economic effects of this virus, which makes people more susceptible to human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is a horrible plague in this state,” said Wilson. “Each year, we are becoming better at identifying and dealing with this heinous crime … With your help, we will bring more and more human traffickers to justice.”
In 2020, FITSNews covered several stories of human trafficking in South Carolina, including:
Wilson said the task force’s goal is to bring more awareness and understanding about human trafficking and, ultimately, to prosecute those who committed these crimes. He said he is proud of the progress they have made since the group was founded eight years ago.
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“The State Task Force continues its efforts, in collaboration with regional task forces across the state, to raise awareness of the number of the National Human Trafficking Hotline so that victims can ask for help and members community members can report suspicious incidents, ”said Wilson.
To report a case of human trafficking, call 1-888-373-7888 or send a text message to 233733 (BeFree).
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