The Not So Glamorous Side of Life

Kacie Klinnert was a normal 17 year old young girl until a ride home turned into her biggest nightmare. On the night of March 18th, 2008 Kacie decided to go out with some friends to the local Safeway. When she came outside the store 2 men approached her, what was said exactly is still unknown, but police have made some assumptions according to what Kacie’s friend informed them. Her friend, which name remains unknown, said that Kacie told her she was getting a ride home from two men. This was the last time she ever saw her friend. In the mean time Kacie’s mom, Vicki Zito, was frustrated worrying where her daughter was. Time passed and it seemed like an eternity and her daughter never arrived home. She decided to call the police; from the start the police didn’t pay much attention to her case. They thought that it was just another teen age runaway case but little did they know Kacie was being introduced to the world as a sex slave. For eight agonizing days Zito urged the police to help her find her daughter; but she kept on receiving the same answer. Police kept insisting that she ranaway. Zito posted up fliers all around town trying to find her daughter but everyday she grew more and more worried. Her biggest worry was that her daughter was not receiving the medications she needed. Kacie is bi polar therefore she needs to take medications everyday. This would explain why Kacie decided to take a ride home from a total stranger, Kacie has a disability in her brain that doesn’t allow her to think like a normal 17 year old, and instead she has the brain of a 10 year old. With this being said Kacie can be very trusting with everyone. The question still remained, where was Kacie? After getting in the car with the two men Kacie was taken to Motel 6 in Fremont California. In this motel Kacie’s life was demolished within seconds by Richi Sanwal. Sanwal became Kacie’s pimp for 8 days. In the motel Kacie received constant threats, beating and abuse both mental and physical.
The most shocking part of this terrifying ordeal was that police found Kacie through an ad on craigslist that offered sexual favors to anyone that was interested. At the moment Kacie is still trying to recuperate from this traumatic incident. After learning about sex trafficking Zito has tried her hardest to be proactive against this issue. She teamed up with many volunteers all over California to get as many signatures as possible to change the law and give harsher penalties to people involved with human trafficking. As for Sanwal he is serving 8 years in prison for his crime. The police confiscated all the money Sanwal had and is using it to help out victims of human trafficking. In the eyes of Kacie and her family justice was not served. No amount of jail time will ever be enough to pay for the crime that Sanwal committed to this naïve girl.
To many of the readers, this issue might seem rare or unheard of, but the reality is that sex trafficking is very common in the streets of Oakland. Young girls that are victims of sex trafficking are afraid to speak out and get help because of the fear their pimp has planted on them. Others that know about this issue would rather not talk about it because the reality is that it’s a tough issue to face. If you are someone or know someone who has been sexually exploited feel free to contact 1(888)373-7888. This is a toll free hotline where you can call and get help to end human trafficking.

Source from change.org