Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg with constituents during a firearms safety gathering earlier this week | facebook.com/kimoggforda
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg with constituents during a firearms safety gathering earlier this week | facebook.com/kimoggforda
Human trafficking or promotion of prostitution cases in Harris County cases more than doubled in 2019, compared with three years prior, but not because there's more of it, according to a recent Houston Public Media story.
Harris County filed 266 human trafficking or promotion of prostitution cases in 2019, a huge increase over the 106 cases filed three years earlier, HPM reported in its Jan. 13 edition.
The increase can be traced to a decision by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg to prioritize human trafficking prosecutions, according to the HPM report.
"This is significant," Ogg said in the HPM report. "So if you're in this business, if you’re running women or men on the Bissonnet Track, if you insist on trying to exploit the vulnerable, just know we’re coming after you.”
Bissonnet Track is a reference to Bissonnet Street in Houston, which, along with nearby U.S. 59 and Beltway 8, has a reputation for prostitution and human trafficking.
Area police have made more than 600 arrests in the area on suspicion human trafficking or promotion of prostitution since 2016, according to the HPM report.
In fall of 2017, Ogg's office launched Project 180 to identify victims while aggressively prosecuting their exploiters.
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