Number of Montana Human Trafficking Cases Jump 100 Percent in 2016
Year over year, the number of human trafficking cases in Montana continues to climb, but thankfully the number of victims rescued is climbing too. In 2014, there weren't any human trafficking cases in Montana, but Attorney General Tim Fox says there was a substantial increase in cases last year.
"We just finished the tabulations for the year 2016, with respect to a number of human trafficking cases that were handled here in Montana, said Fox. "The total cases went up 100 percent from 2015. We had 14 human trafficking cases that were opened."
Though there were only 14 cases opened, many more victims were rescued, meaning that this year's case numbers are likely to be high as well.
"The good news is that last year we rescued 22 adult victims of human trafficking and five juvenile victims of human trafficking and that's an 83 percent and a 400 percent increase over 2015 in those two categories. "
In a press release sent out with the crime statistics Attorney General Fox added a little political fodder to the ongoing budget debates at the legislature by saying "Unfortunately, it’s possible that human trafficking investigations would cease if the proposed five percent budget reduction impacts our Division of Criminal Investigation. Human trafficking investigations tend to be complex and expensive operations, but we can’t put a price on the safety of Montana’s children."