UNITED STATES ATTORNEY HALSEY B. FRANK RECOGNIZES NATIONAL SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION MONTH

Portland, Maine:  In recognition of January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank released the following statement:

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine (USAO) is committed to working with its law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who use violence and intimidation to exploit the labor and services of vulnerable victims.  The USAO also partners closely with a variety of non-governmental organizations to protect the safety and dignity of human trafficking victims.  The USAO is committed to rescuing human trafficking victims and prosecuting traffickers.”

The District of Maine is one of six districts designated through a competitive, nationwide selection process as a Phase II Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam), through the interagency ACTeam Initiative of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Labor. ACTeams focus on developing high-impact human trafficking investigations and prosecutions involving forced labor, international sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion through interagency collaboration among federal prosecutors and federal investigative agencies.

For more information about the causes of and ways to address human trafficking, please see the human trafficking public awareness materials created by the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, available at: https://ovc.ncjrs.gov/humantrafficking/publicawareness.html.