Advocating for Trafficking Survivors In The Criminal Justice System

Zephaniah "Zephi" Trevino, 17, is a child sex trafficking victim who is being charged with capital murder in Texas. An adult has confessed to the crime in her case, in which Zephi was also being sexually exploited. In 2019, Phillip Baldenegro and Jesse Martinez are alleged to have ambushed two men at an apartment who were there, they believed, to have sex with Zephi, who was 16 at the time. One of the men was injured and one was killed, and Baldenegro has confessed to being the one who pulled the trigger. 

Baldenegro’s attorney claims that Zephi is the one who lured the two victims to the apartment and that he and Zephi were in a consensual romantic relationship. But to hear Zephi and her parents describe the situation, it is clear that Zephi was being exploited and manipulated. Her trafficker is reported to have physically abused Zephi and threatened to harm her and her family if she told them what was happening. Zephi was sold for sex at the age of 16. There is no other way to describe the circumstances than child sex trafficking. Take action now and demand justice for Zephi. 

Exploitation affects communities in every state in the U.S. Below, you can learn more about cases related to sex trafficking across the country that made headlines this month. 

• Houston man gets life for trafficking girls for sex - A 45-year-old Houston man has been sent to prison and ordered to pay nearly $1 million following his convictions on five separate counts of sex trafficking involving adults and minors.
• FBI finds 33 missing children in an anti-trafficking operation - Thirty-three children were recovered in an anti-trafficking operation in Southern California dubbed "Operation Lost Angels.”
• United States Attorney Lawrence Keefe Maintains Priority on Seeking Justice And Recovery For Victims Of Child Exploitation – United States Attorney Lawrence Keefe of the Northern District of Florida announced that a total of 39 defendants were indicted in 2020 on federal charges involving the exploitation of children, ranging from production, distribution, and possession of child pornography to sex trafficking of minors.