Child Trafficking Town Hall to be held on April 18

Child trafficking is a very serious problem occurring all over the country and world. There will be a Child Trafficking Town Hall to be held from 7 to 8 p.m. on April 18 at the auditorium at Goodnight Middle School, located at 1301 Highway 123. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. According to a press release, the event is meant to increase awareness of the growing concerns over child and human trafficking. This event will bring together experts, advocates, law enforcement — San Marcos Police Department, Hays County Sheriff’s Department and Hays County Crime Stoppers — and community leaders to share insights, strategies and collaborative efforts in the fight against child and human trafficking. The event is sponsored by the included law enforcement agencies, Youth Service Bureau, Greater San Marcos Youth Council, Hays Caldwell Women’s Center, Rotary Club of San Marcos, San Marcos Lions, San marcos Kiwanis, TXS RotarAct Club, CASA of Central Texas, Young Life & Local Churches and Hays County Veterans Affairs. There will be several organizations that focus on this topic in attendance: Students Against Child Trafficking, Ransomed Life Texas, Rotary’s Human Trafficking Club and Institute to Combat Trafficking.

Kirsta Leeburg Melton, Institute to Combat Trafficking founder and CEO, will be speaking at the event. According to the press release, The organization is dedicated to seeking justice for victims’ of trafficking and holding traffickers accountable. From 2015 to 2019, Melton served as the Deputy Criminal Chief of the Human Trafficking and Transnational/ Organized Crime Section at the Office of the Texas Attorney General, and for 15 years prior she prosecuted human trafficking, physical and sexual abuse of children, adult sex cases and family violence in San Antonio. During her time in San Antonio, she established and led the Bexar County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit and chaired the Alamo Area Coalition against Trafficking. Melton is responsible for several of the State’s first life sentences for trafficking and served as the lead prosecutor for the State of Texas in the takedown of Backpage.com in April 2018. Melton also chaired the Texas Statewide Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force and Coordinating. She has trained more than 25,000 people on human trafficking and has been featured in multiple training films distributed nationally. Melton played a critical role in the restructuring of Texas trafficking law and procedure and is regularly called to consult with and testify before the Texas legislature on trafficking issues.