Tulsa World: Child sex trade topic of ORU conference

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Child sex trade topic of ORU conference

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 10/18/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 10/18/2009 4:16 AM

Sex trafficking in children in Oklahoma and across the country will be addressed Wednesday and Thursday in a national conference at Oral Roberts University.

The opening night of the conference, which is open to the public, will feature the Oklahoma premiere of the film "CALL + RESPONSE," followed by a question-and-answer period with a panel of experts.

The session will begin at 7 p.m. in ORU's Zoppelt Auditorium.

In sessions Thursday in the Mabee Center, Theresa Flores will tell how she was forced into the sex trade while in high school, and FBI agents will discuss child sex trafficking in Oklahoma.

The conference will have different tracks for the general public, law enforcement agents and social service providers.

The conference is sponsored by Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans, a statewide coalition of agencies, organizations and abolitionists working to raise awareness of human trafficking in the state and to help victims.

OATH's co-founder and director, Mark Elam, will speak. He also directs Angel Eyes, which supports the operation of safe houses for sex-trafficking victims in Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.

Other speakers are to include Kayla Bakshi, a federal prosecutor and a Justice Department specialist in human trafficking; Sgt. Christian Burchell of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in San Antonio; Daniel Meza, an investigator in the Fort Worth Police Department; Melissa Snow, the director of programs for Shared Hope International; Kathleen Murray of the Fort Worth Police Department's Human Trafficking Unit; Myste French, a case manager for the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking; Steve Grissom, a Tulsa psychologist; Randall Feller, a marriage and family therapist in Tulsa; and Jim Windsor of Oklahoma City, the founder and director of the FBI Human Trafficking Task Force in Oklahoma City.

For more information, go to tulsaworld.com/oathconference .

Bill Sherman 581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

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