Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2019

52 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ReadMPM.com feature H uman trafficking; sexual abuse of children; substance abuse; teen suicide. These all are issues that affect kids who live in high- crime, high-poverty areas. Nothing like this could ever happen in Mount Pleasant, where the most pressing problems are exasperating traffic jams and overdevelopment, mostly because of the vast number of people who want to take advantage of the town’s highly rated schools, well-manicured neighborhoods and proximity to the beach. Right? Wrong. These problems are real — even in the burgeoning bedroom community across the river from Charleston. The town, WakeUp Carolina and an array of organizations that have a stake in the health and well-being of the kids who are the future of the Lowcountry took a major step toward addressing these problems March 9. In the Cooper River Room at Memorial Waterfront Park, they openly discussed issues that, until recently, have been all but ignored. The major themes that emerged from “Our Community, Our Children” were that parents need to pay more attention to what their children are doing and that human trafficking, sexual and substance abuse and teen suicide are issues that can rear their ugly heads anywhere, even in placid Mount Pleasant. HUMAN TRAFFICKING “These things can happen in any home and in any community,” said FBI Agent Jackie Hamelryck, a member of the panel that discussed human trafficking. Moderator Brooke Burris, East Coast regional director for the Lynch Foundation for Children, added that “It’s a low-risk crime. Because the penalty in South Carolina is so low, it’s profitable.” Human trafficking, according to Judge Michele Forsythe, “is not kidnapping like in the movies.” “It’s not that obvious,” said the 9th Judicial Circuit family court judge. “Many of these kids are runaways, and many are involved in both the foster-care system and the juvenile justice system.” Hamelryck pointed out that many kids who are involved in human trafficking don’t see themselves as victims. Instead, a teenage girl might consider her handler to be someone who is always going to be there for her. “He makes her feel special. If they don’t get attention at home, they’re going to get it somewhere else,” she said. “Some victims don’t want to be saved. They have really nice nails, a nice phone and nice clothes. And they receive attention,” Forsythe added. Tiffany Knowlton, a panel member and a human- trafficking survivor, said she finally reached a point where she wanted to be saved. “What really hit home was when my pimp told me to BY BRIAN SHERMAN Our Community, Our Children It Can Happen Anywhere