Local law enforcement doesn’t expect a sex trafficking problem during this slimmed-down Masters Week, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t alert for the possibility.
In 2014, an undercover sting operation targeting prostitution and child sex trafficking led to five arrests in Augusta over the big golf weekend. That year, local and federal agencies joined forces for a special Child Exploitation Task Force because of the Masters Golf Tournament.
They knew that big events like the Masters draw a lot of people to town, but they also can bring an increase in illegal activity in the sex trade. People want to have a good time, and some people’s definition of a good time is not always legal.
That year, authorities arrested three for prostitution, including one person from the Metro Atlanta area and two locals. In addition, a resident of Lilburn and a North Augusta man were charged with criminal attempt child molestation.
Will the task force be operating this year as a scaled-down event will allow only smaller crowds?
The FBI won’t discuss specific plans for Masters 2021, according to Public Affairs Specialist Kevin Rowson from the FBI Atlanta office.
“However, the FBI, along with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners work hand in hand to make sure the event is safe and secure from all illegal activities,” he said by email. “We ask anyone in the public who sees or hears any suspicious activity to contact law enforcement.”
Sex trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which individuals perform commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Experts say that the Augusta area is ripe for sex trafficking for a variety of reasons: The Augusta area hosts a major sporting event, has a major thoroughfare, shares a border with another state, features a high migrant community and has a population over 200,000. That would lead to a higher than average amount of sex crimes.
That has proven to be the case in recent years.
In fact, prostitution has been a repeated target of Richmond County’s Vice Unit last summer and fall, with dozens of arrests of local suspects and many from out of town. The vice unit targets websites where women advertise their services with pictures and phone numbers. Officers call them and record what they are willing to do. The meet-up is done at a local hotel, where officers use undercover video surveillance to record the offer before making the arrest.
In April 2016, a young mother’s secret life of prostitution from her home in North Augusta was exposed with her arrest by Aiken County authorities. That year, a prostitution crackdown came in the middle of the golf tournament, when the “Escorts” page of Augusta’s Backpage.com section featured several naked women offering Masters Week specials.
“Pretty Young Thick Thang, In Town for Masters Week, 22,” said the headline of one ad, which included several pictures of a woman’s breasts and buttocks dresses in bikinis and thongs.
Backpage.com was later seized by the U.S. Department of Justice and shut down as part of a plea agreement with the CEO. A study found that the website had owned a virtual monopoly on Internet prostitution. Since then, those in the sex trade have found other ways to advertise their services.
But this year, authorities with the sheriff’s offices in Aiken and Columbia counties say they don’t expect sex trafficking to emerge as a major problem during Masters Week.
“We are aware to be on the lookout for it,” ACSO Capt. Eric Abdullah said.
In Columbia County, officials are more accustomed to another type of traffic problems, the one with motor vehicles clogging the roads as people make their way to the tournament, sheriff’s Maj. Steve Morris said. But even that shouldn’t be as bad since Masters audience is being limited due to the pandemic.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office did not answer questions about their Masters preparations in time for this article.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials are always working on educating the public. In many public rest areas, the bathroom walls have posters with a Human Trafficking Hotline, written in multiple languages.
“If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave, whether it is commercial sex, housework, farm work, or any other activity, call the National Human Trafficking Resources Center Hotline to access help and services,” the poster says.
The hotline is 1-888-373-7888.
Greg Rickabaugh is the Jail Report Contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at greg.rickabaugh@theaugustapress.com
