Charleston, Berkeley among South Carolina counties with most human trafficking cases in 2023
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)- Two Lowcountry counties had among the most human trafficking cases opened in the state last year, according to new data from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office (SCAG).
SCAG released its annual human trafficking report Thursday, which details the number of cases reported to the national hotline, the counties in which these crimes are being reported, and steps the state is taking to combat human trafficking.
According to the report, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division opened 357 investigations into sex and labor trafficking across the state in 2023 with 498 potential victims.
The countries with the most cases were Richland with 43, Greenville with 34, Horry and Aiken with 24 each, Berkeley with 23, and Charleston, Spartanburg and Lexington with 21 each. There were only six counties that did not report any cases of human trafficking last year.
Data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which tracked 2022 reports, showed that there were 90 human trafficking incidents reported to the hotline with 194 possible victims.
Greenville and Horry counties ranked number one followed by Charleston County in second place. Richland and Spartanburg counties tied for third, Aiken County ranked fourth, and Lexington and Orangeburg tied for fifth.
“That doesn’t mean that there’s more human trafficking occurring in those eight counties,” Attorney General Alan Wilson said. “That just means that’s where people are seeing and identifying and making calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.”
Wilson, who chairs the state’s Human Trafficking Task Force, said that the majority of reported cases reported in 2023 involved minors being sex trafficked.
To combat this, Wilson said his office is asking for nearly $10 million from the S.C. General Assembly to fund a grant program that would provide additional shelters for minor victims, of which there is currently only one in the state.
“As we look to the future, we intend to increase the number of shelters available to child human trafficking victims,” he continued. “These shelters will provide much-needed safety and care and provide services to both the children and their families.”
Part of those efforts included the launch of TraffickProofSC, a statewide prevention education initiative. The curriculum, created in partnership with SCETV, educates middle and high school students on sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and the use of social media.
The social media portion includes education on sexual extortion or ‘sextortion,’ a tool often used by traffickers to target victims online. Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill into law in May 2023 that makes the crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison if the victim is a minor, vulnerable adult, or suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime.
“Human traffickers are mostly targeting vulnerable children and youth in our state,” Task Force Director Kathryn Moorehead said. “Our goal is to ultimately prevent the crime while we work to develop much-needed services to help victims.”
The report also highlighted data from the court system which found that 46 new charges of trafficking were opened in state courts last year involving 21 separate defendants. There are currently 31 defendants with charges pending for human trafficking in South Carolina courts.
You can report an incident of human trafficking or find resources by calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. The hotline is confidential and open 24/7.
