Kane County launches unit dedicated to combat human trafficking

Calling it “a crime that hides within our community,” Kane County State’s Attorney’s Jamie Mosser announced Monday she is starting a unit to investigate human exploitation.

“We are going to ensure that traffickers are held liable, and that victims receive the justice and support that they deserve,” Mosser said.

The unit will investigate sex and labor trafficking. It will have two investigators, one forensics investigator, two victims’ advocates, a civil resources attorney and a criminal prosecutor. It is being led by first assistant state’s attorney Christine Bayer.

It is being paid for by a $1 million one-year grant from the state, Mosser said. She is seeking other funding, including state, federal and private grants, to pay for it after that.

Sex trafficking doesn’t just take place at massage parlors, Mosser said. In St. Charles recently, police arrested five people who were accused of sex trafficking by operating a prostitution business out of an apartment complex just south of the police station.

The unit is also going after forced labor. Mosser said that may be happening at large manufacturing companies, but also in private homes, where people work as housekeepers or nannies.

State Sen. Linda Holmes, who obtained the grant for Mosser, said she was told of trafficking happening in hair-braiding salons. (In 2024, three South suburban women were convicted in federal court of forced labor for bringing in two girls from Benin to work at a hair-braiding salon.)

The Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign says labor trafficking is also reported in the agriculture and hospitality business sectors, including restaurant workers.

Signs a person may be trafficked can include people sleeping at businesses, working excessively long hours, even sometimes having a tattoo that marks them as belonging to someone, according to Mosser. Signs of prostitution can include a suspicious amount of vehicle traffic and visitors to a home.

Traffickers may use threats, force, coercion or fraud to keep people working for them, Mosser said. For example, a trafficker may confiscate a victim’s identification.

Incidents in Kane County have often been overlooked, unreported or misidentified, Mosser added. Sex trafficking cases traditionally have been prosecuted as prostitution and labor trafficking cases not investigated at all due to a lack of resources.

“Kane County is not immune to the malignant and detrimental actions these traffickers have brought,” Mosser said.

Besides prosecuting cases, the unit will strive to help victims, such as helping with housing or immigration concerns.

Mosser said the unit’s approach will be victim-centered and trauma-informed.

“We will not treat victims as criminals here in Kane County,” Mosser said.