Minnesota braces for sex trafficking during 2018 Super Bowl

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Law enforcement officials are bracing for a surge in internet sex trafficking when Minnesota hosts the 2018 Super Bowl.

Prosecutors and police agencies in Minneapolis-St. Paul anticipate hundreds of women and girls will be sold for sex around the time of the game, which is expected to draw 1 million visitors to the Twin Cities over 10 days, the Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/2apLV99) reported.

"There's no doubt that when you have an increased amount of individuals congregating, and when alcohol is involved, that you are going to have an increase in crime committed. It's naive to assume it wouldn't be," Washington County major crimes prosecutor Imran Ali said.

Before the Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium, another major sporting event is drawing people to Minnesota - the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, which is expected to draw 300,000 visitors this fall.

Already at work is a task force that includes many Twin Cities agencies alarmed by sex trafficking ads spreading on internet sites. Authorities said more juveniles are being forced into the sex trade because the internet has expanded the market.

Victims of sex trafficking are regularly transported for sale at "lucrative venues" such as major sporting events, the FBI recently reported.

"They're targeting those that are mentally ill, are chemically dependent," Ali said.

Ali's assistants, crime analyst Aimee Schroeder and law clerk Jessica Hockley, found more than 34,000 online solicitations from January to June for sex in the Twin cities metro area on backpage.com, a leading internet sex marketplace.

Metro-area solicitations doubled on NFC and AFC championship game days, even though those games were held elsewhere, the research found. The research also showed that solicitations surged during the Crashed Ice event in St. Paul last winter, and tripled on St. Patrick's Day compared with other days in March.

Before the Ryder Cup arrives, Carver County Attorney Mark Metz said his county is working to draw attention to sex trafficking by educating its law enforcement partners.

"Aside from the enforcement side, I think that education is a key component since some people may not appreciate how significant an issue sex trafficking can be at large events," Metz said.

Some experts argue the idea that Super Bowls attract a large commercial sex trade is a myth that distracts from the year-round problem of women and girls forced into trafficking.

"Publicity regarding the alleged increase in trafficking around these events does nothing to deter exploitation, and focuses law enforcement resources in precisely the wrong way," said Kate Mogulescu, supervising attorney for the Exploitation Intervention Project at the Legal Aid Society in New York City.

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com