Child Sex Trafficking - Bring Justice

Traffickers, buyers, and those who profit from exploiting children must be held accountable. Law enforcement and prosecutors need the proper training and tools to adequately prosecute these criminals.

In pursuit of this goal, it is critical to maintain a child-centered perspective and a trauma-informed response in order to ensure the survivor's needs are met and that the survivor is empowered to participate in bringing justice to his/her exploiters.

CSTT brings justice for victims by:

• Providing funding and training to criminal justice partners to strengthen the investigation and prosecution of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking;
• Facilitating quarterly convenings of local human trafficking task forces and coalitions from across Texas to combat emerging methods of exploitation;
• Implementing CSEY Advocacy and the Texas Model for Care Coordination which empowers victim participation in investigations and prosecution;
• Educating the public on the realities of commercial sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking to counter biases that may lead to victim-blaming.

Resources

• A Trauma-Informed Approach to Labor & Sex Trafficking - Police Chief Magazine
• Domestic Minor Familial Sex Trafficking | Institute for Shelter Care
• Human Trafficking | Homeland Security (dhs.gov)
• Texas Department of Public Safety: Interdiction for the Protection of Children (IPC) Training
• The National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children & Youth in the United States | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov)
• Training | Human Trafficking | Office for Victims of Crime (ojp.gov)
• "What Every Prosecutor Should Know About Human Trafficking"

Programs Supported by Grants from the Office of the Governor

• Human Trafficking Institute (HTI): HTI works within criminal justice systems to equip law enforcement and prosecutors with the training, resources, and expertise needed to identify and prosecute traffickers, combatting human trafficking at its source.

In February 2025,HTI outlined an innovative training pilot project Strengthening Human Trafficking Investigations and Prosecutions: HTI's Approach in Texas webinar. The webinar emphasizes trauma-informed investigations, the role of care coordination, and the importance of CSEY advocacy in building stronger child sex trafficking cases and achieving justice for survivors.

• Specialized prosecution units in Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and Tarrant counties.
• Office of the Attorney General Sexual Extortion Investigation Project: Provides resources for investigating online sexual extortion cases.