ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A day after a Florissant woman was arrested for allegedly selling a 16-year-old for sex at a local casino, management at the casino is crediting an employee for noticing and reporting the crime to security and police.
According to the St. Louis County Police Department’s probable cause statement, investigators learned on February 23 that a 16-year-old was the victim of sex trafficking at River City Casino.
Two women, Angel Henderson of Florissant and Mack Mitchell, recruited, harbored, and transported the victim for the purposes of having sexual performances for men at the casino. Court documents state, “It is anticipated the ongoing investigation will reveal further minor victims.”
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged both Henderson and Mitchell with second-degree sexual trafficking of a child under 18. Bonds for both were set at $300,000, cash only. Henderson is due in court on March 4 for a bond reduction hearing. Meanwhile, Mitchell remains at large.
On Wednesday, the casino responded to FOX 2, saying that staff undergo an “…extensive human trafficking training course, which outlines the prevalence of the problem, and it teaches our employees the signs and symptoms to look out for….” The casino added, “It was one of our frontline team members who brought this matter to the attention of our security team and ultimately local police….”
Both law enforcement and survivor advocates say traffickers begin their recruitment of children online. Partnerships are forming to combat it. Police departments, like St. Louis County, are donating spaces in their departments to a local group called Crisis Aid International. It’s an effort to not only bring greater comfort to victims and families, but also to help uncover additional crimes while preventing others.
The spaces are in police departments like St. Ann, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and at St. Charles County Police headquarters, where we interviewed Crisis Aid advocate Lauren Peffley.
“We want you to know if this is happening, you’re not alone,” she said. “There are resources, and you deserve justice for your family and support for everyone in it.”
Peffley works with survivors through the entire court process. There are times when they even learn things when working with families on prevention.
“Sometimes we start working with a kid who’s experience high-risk, and we think there hasn’t been a crime committed and then it comes out later down the line that, actually, they have been victimized,” she said.
“If you’re not sure if something has happened to your kiddo and you want to get on top of that prevention and that internet safety in the household, I do a lot of our education programs; our children’s anti-exploitation partnership.”
Retired St. Louis County Sgt. Adam Kavanaugh is Crisis Aid’s law enforcement liaison. He recommends not waiting to have that difficult conversation with your child.
“When do you start talking to them?” he said. “You start talking to them before you hand them the device.”
