Key players in the recent rescues of child sex slaves in Columbia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Thailand and other countries will testify about their bold—if extremely risky—missions to a House human rights panel on Capitol Hill Thursday.

     Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) will be the focus of a hearing planned by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees global human rights issues, and author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law which created the Office on Trafficking of Persons and mandates the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP).

    “A Pathway to Freedom: Rescue and Refuge for Sex Trafficking Victims,” is the title of the hearing to be held before the House Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee on global human rights.

    The Utah Attorney General, who will be the lead-off witness at the hearing, played a central role in the dangerous sting operation in October  2014. The AG was reported to have posed as part of a group of Columbian cartel investors setting up an island child sex hotel off the coast of Cartagena. This spring, seven traffickers were arrested and 29 victims freed in the Dominican Republic due to an OUR operation.  

         Who:                           Members of the House global human rights subcommittee, and witnesses:

• The Honorable Sean Reyes, Attorney General,  State of Utah

• Tim Ballard, former CIA and U.S. Department of Homeland Security employee,  Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Operation Underground Railroad

  When:                         Thursday, May 14, @ 2:30 p.m.

  Where:                        Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172 (first floor) 

    “Our  government runs highly-effective sting operations abroad to catch U.S. pedophile sex tourists and rescue victims where there is a nexus to the United States, but often can’t conduct rescue operations or run investigations that fall outside U.S. government jurisdiction,” said Chairman Smith. “Sometimes stepping into this gap are non-governmental rescue operations staffed by former Navy Seals, ex-CIA agents and the occasional sitting member of state government. This hearing will explore the ways the U.S. government and specialized non-governmental actors can coordinate and learn from each to accomplish the goals of rescuing trafficking victims and helping them recover and restore their lives.”

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