#sex-trafficking

#sex-trafficking

I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong. Even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause. We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long. By the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him.

Despite his new status as a registered sex offender, Epstein retained the trappings of wealth and influence. He preserved his foothold in financial circles and rebuilt his relationships among billionaires and senior bankers. Al Jazeera has reviewed the latest documents published by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 30, 2026, gathered during federal investigations into Epstein. The files shed new light on how, despite his conviction, he remained embedded within elite financial networks for years.

Sex trafficking has been a problem in Oakland for decades, but new legislation, a new mobile clinic, and a growing chorus of young survivors are reshaping how the city responds. Public safety reporter Roselyn Romero breaks it all down. Plus: Oakland's oldest queer bar becomes a site of immigrant resistance, Mayor Lee's philanthropic fundraising strategy, a West Oakland street safety project, new food spots, and a tribute to Betty Reid Soskin.

Not so long ago, if you said there was a shadowy cabal of elites who were involved in the sex trafficking of young women and girls and that some of the most famous people in the world were allegedly involved, then you would have been dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. On a certain level, it feels psychologically safe to other people who have conspiracy theories Jon Ronson even wrote a book called Them about extremists and conspiracy theorists.

Adisturbing number of the oligarchs responsible for the mess we're in are not very smart. I realize that this seems like a minor complaint when so many of them are also evil, incompetent, and causing enormous amounts of human suffering. (Though perhaps it's better that they're dimly lit, because who knows how much worse things would be if they were truly evil geniuses?)

The 38-count superseding indictment names defendants whom prosecutors identified as members or affiliates of the Anti-Tren gang that emerged from Tren de Aragua, which federal authorities on Jan.20, 2025 designated a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors used racketeering conspiracy or RICO statutes, tying groups to crimes, for a wide range of actions, including some linked to an April 15, 2024 double murder in the Bronx.

But a far nastier picture of their high life has been on display in court for the past few weeks, where the three brothers are on trial for sex trafficking. Prosecutors have accused each of the three brothers of violent, forcible rape of at least 10 women each and in some cases of threatening them if they spoke of their experiences.

Some of these young people avoid hospitals or traditional medical centers due to discrimination from health care staff, feelings of shame, fears of retaliation from traffickers, and other barriers, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing. As a result, they lack equitable access to medical and reproductive health care. One Oakland nonprofit is working to tear down these barriers by bringing medical services directly to the streets.

The first rape accuser testified under the pseudonym Katie Moore about an incident in Manhattan in 2012, when she was a 20-year-old marketing intern. Moore described a night of partying with a small group that included her friend Ainsley, Tal Alexander, Alon Alexander, and the brothers' then-friend, actor Zac Efron. Moore told the jury she collapsed at a nightclub after one sip from a drink handed to her by one of Tal's friends.

"Human trafficking prevention is an important reproductive justice issue and a shared community responsibility," said LJ, a 17-year-old high school senior.

Whiteman, 45, filed a civil lawsuit in March 2024 accusing the Alexander brothers of sexually assaulting her more than a decade earlier. In court filings, she said she met the brothers at a Manhattan nightclub in 2012 and was forced into a sport utility vehicle as she was leaving. She alleged they drove her to a Hamptons estate where she was assaulted.

OAKLAND -At 3:15 a.m. on Dec. 19, long after most local business owners had shuttered their doors, two brothers left the back of their lingerie store in a neighborhood known for sex trafficking and headed to their car in an adjacent alleyway. That's when the gunman struck, according to police, firing multiple shots into a 2016 Toyota Prius and striking both men inside. One died before EMTs could take him to a hospital. His brother was struck in the arm but survived, authorities said.

Gonzalez said one of the victims, a 23-year-old woman, needed to raise money for her ill father, and was referred to the mother and daughter by a friend in January 2024. She was forced to work from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. six days a week and was required to split her prostitution profits 50/50 with her new bosses. The victim worked out of alleged massage parlors at 2281 McDonald Ave. and 1204 Coney Island Ave., officials said.