An incident that occurred on September 22 has many residents worried about the possibility of human trafficking in Marshall County. At approximately 2:50 a.m., a deputy with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office conducted a traffic stop in the south-central part of the county. The deputy recognized the driver of the vehicle as Jordon Wright from a traffic stop just the day prior.
From the prior interaction with Wright, the deputy knew the driver didn't have a license and that he was a registered sex offender. Knowing this information, the deputy detained Wright, a 23-year-old male from Ft. Worth,Texas.Thatwaswhen theofficernoticedWrighthad eight passengers in the car with him.
One of the eight passengers allegedly claimed to be Wright's girlfriend. The remaining seven girls were all under the age of 15. The deputy began questioning why the girls were riding with Wright, and could not get a straight answer. The deputy noted that their stories weren't mathcing.
OnceWrightwasdetained andheandtheninegirlswere transported to MCSO, the girls' parents were contacted and they were all sent to their homes. Deputies then contacted the Ft. Worth Police Department to get more information on Wright, and let them know the pending charges on the suspect. The Ft. Worth Police Department adviced the MCSO that Wright will possibly face more charges in Ft. Worth once they are done with their investigation.
Currently, Wright is facing two traffic charges and eight counts of Child Endangerment. The investigation is ongoing and could result in more charges. Wright is currently being held in the MCSO with a $40,000 bond. Wright was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Minor in 2017. He served seven years in prison, and was recently released.
News of this traffic stop hit social media Sunday morning. Many residents voiced their concerns over a registered sex offender having eight underage girls in his vehicle at 2:50 a.m. Many voiced their concerns of a possible human trafficking ring.
Residents are hyper-vigilant because there is a rumor floating around that Wright was pulled over a week prior to this incident and had a juvenile male with him. It is alleged that the pair was heading to Waco, Texas. So far, this is just a rumor, because there has been no hard evidence supporting that rumor.
However, between the rumor and the actual traffic stop, residents are worried that Wright might be part of a human trafficking ring. Even though Oklahoma is number 32 on the human trafficking ring list, it is still a very serious issue. In June, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics arrested Baosheng Lin after a search warrant turned up three women who were being used as sex slaves. Lin brought the three women over from China and he allegedly trafficked the three women that he brought into the US for commercial sex.
The OBN also busted a possible human sex trafficking ring in July after a victim contacted them.
Mark Woodward, an OBN spokesperson, said trafficking is a serious issue in everywhere.
'It’s a global issue,” Woodward told KOCO 5 in an interview. 'We want to send a message that Oklahoma is not going to tolerate that, and victims do have a place they can turn, and they aren’t alone.'
Woodward said the sad truth is that human trafficking seems to be one of the crimes that is underreported.
The Department of Human Services said there are waystodeterpossiblehuman trafficking. If a person sees something, then report it. There are five things that the reporter should pay attention to before contacting the local authorities that would help the investigation. The reportershouldnotewhothey saw, what they saw, when they say it, where it occurred and why it is suspicious.