Daniella Cameron, manager of the Preble Street Anti-Trafficking Coalition, said in a prepared statement that the group is “seeing increasing numbers of people being trafficked” and is working with law enforcement agencies to protect the victims, most of them young women.

“Sex trafficking can happen anywhere there are vulnerable victims and people willing to exploit their poverty, desperation or hopelessness. Sex trafficking is not just a third-world problem, nor is it just a big-city problem. It is happening in our own Maine communities with alarming frequency,” Elam said in the news release.

“This presents a new challenge to law enforcement and requires all of us to open our minds to the possibility that those engaged in ‘prostitution’ may very well be victims more than criminals,” she said.

[Click here to read the full article on the Portland Press Herald website]