Tweet

Editor’s note: Heather Smith and Mike Thompson’s names have been altered to hide their identities.

Most downtowns are chock-full of historic landmarks. Drive through a big city like Des Moines, and you’ll see many of them: The Travelers Sign, The Women of Achievement Bridge or the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden. When Heather Smith drives through downtown, she sees landmarks, too. But they’re not historic or beautiful. Smith sees truck stops or warehouses where she was trafficked. 

Smith is a sex trafficking survivor who spent years and years having her body sold for sex. 

Her ordeal began when Smith was a freshman student-athlete who also worked full-time on campus at Northwest Iowa Community College. She spent a lot of time in the weight room, and it was there, one day, she met a man who told her he was part of the coaching staff at Northwest Iowa. Mike Thompson, the coach, chatted with Smith, and they flirted back and forth. Eventually, Thompson took Smith out for dinner to a restaurant that was 45 minutes away from campus because, as Smith said, staff could not date students.

After a few dates, Smith began to open up to Thompson. Over Christmas break, Smith asked Thompson if she could meet his family. Thompson knew everything about Smith’s family, and Smith thought it was time to learn about his life. 

After Smith convinced Thompson to let her meet his family, they drove up to his dad’s farm for his New Year’s Eve party. During the party, Smith lost track of Thompson. She asked guests where Thompson was, and finally one guest told her that Thompson was out in the barn with his dad.

Smith peeked her head into the barn and saw Thompson’s dad molesting him. Feeling uncomfortable with what she had witnessed, Smith went back to the room she was staying in and waited for Thompson to come back. After Thompson came back, Smith told him she wanted to leave. Thompson responded by saying they needed to stay the night and that they could leave in the morning. Thompson was not aware that Smith had seen what had happened in the barn until later. 

After Smith arrived back on campus the next day, she avoided Thompson at all costs. After a few weeks, Smith met Thompson at his apartment to talk. When she arrived, they started talking, and then Thompson’s dad walked in.

“He had me pretty much up against the wall,” Smith said. “He was like, ‘I know what you saw that night. You are mine.’ And then his dad raped me while he (Thompson) sat in his bedroom and watched the whole thing. His dad finished up and left.”  

After Thompson’s dad left, Smith was confused. She told Thompson that she knew his dad was molesting him, and it wasn’t right. Thompson promised Smith that he would get help if Smith would stay with him because he needed the support. Smith believed Thompson but still tried to avoid him.

Days later, she was in the cafeteria, and a man came over to her and looped his arm around her, telling her to come with him. He took her outside to his car, and the next thing she knew she was waking up in a warehouse in another city. That was the first night Smith was “sold” over and over again. After hours of being sold, someone drove her back to her dorm, where she quickly got out of the car and into her shower. She spent three hours in the shower until she had to get out for her 8 a.m. class. She went to class as if nothing happened.

Smith was still dating Thompson while she was being sold. Thompson was a victim of his dad but a pimp to other people.

“After being sold and raped multiple times, the whole way back was like ‘if you tell anybody, it’s your job, it’s your family; we will go after your niece,’” Smith said. “They had pictures of my niece and nephew, and I would do anything for those kids.”

Smith was involved in sex trafficking for years. She would wake up, go to classes, go to work and then get sold at night. This was a normal routine. 

For the next several years, she would repeatedly receive phone calls telling her to go outside and get picked up.

According to Smith, there were not many places she wasn’t trafficked at. She was trafficked at truck stops, Newton Race Track, out of the state and even out of the country. Smith went on a college band trip out of the country and was still being trafficked at night.

Smith said the people who were keeping track of her location tracked her vehicle and her phone. They could listen to every phone call and read every text. If Smith was away from her phone for a long period of time, she would get punished. 

Smith was later diagnosed with breast cancer and was sent to Minnesota for treatments. Throughout her treatment, the sex trafficking ring still kept in contact with her.

Smith came back home to see her family and friends after the treatment and resumed being sold at night. She would receive a text message or call telling her an address and a time.

In March 2017, Ruth Buckels and Smith met accidentally. Buckels has legally adopted 17 kids, has guardianship of two kids and gave birth to four. She has also fostered over 90 kids. Buckels had heard about a woman in Pella, Iowa, who wanted to open a house for victims of trafficking. Buckels wanted to meet with this woman at a coffee shop to confront her about the dangers of keeping victims in the same house. According to Buckels, keeping victims in the same house can be unsafe because if a person involved in sex trafficking finds the location of the house, they also find the location of many victims, which is dangerous.

Coincidentally, Smith went to the same coffee shop at the same time to meet with the woman and tell her the idea was unsafe. This is when Smith and Buckels first met. The pair talked for a while, but Smith did not tell Buckels she was still being trafficked. At that point, the traffickers were monitoring Smith’s every move. They knew she was going to a coffee shop to meet up with people, and a man was sent to watch and listen to her. 

“I knew where the guy was in the room that was overhearing our conversation,” Smith said. “I just went out to my car and started sobbing because I didn’t know what to do. Here, I just met this person for the first time who didn’t question me. I just put her in danger for meeting with her.”

The traffickers hacked into Smith’s phone, and they could listen to her phone calls and read her text messages; Smith said there was no level of privacy. 

Smith eventually opened up to Buckels about still being trafficked. Buckels asked Smith to start living at her house for her own safety. 

“It’s a constant weird fear of having big brother over your shoulder when literally big brother is not only over your shoulder, but he’s in your pocket; he’s in your car,” Buckels said. “I mean, she didn’t breathe without permission.” 

It wasn’t long before Buckels started to get threats from the sex traffickers. The traffickers didn’t like Smith living with Buckels. 

“Thanksgiving of ’17 was the last time that I know they got to her,” Buckels said. 

Threats were being sent to Buckels, and she would sometimes reply by sending a picture of Smith. In the texts, she said that Smith was being treated for breast cancer, and the traffickers need to “knock it off.” After many more threats, they finally stopped.

 “Every one of my children knows about human trafficking,” Buckels said. “We use the buddy system even if you are going to go out and check chores.”

Smith said people often wonder why victims of sex trafficking don’t seek help from police officers, teachers or people of power. In Smith’s case, she said she had been bought sexually by judges, lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers. Smith could not find anyone to trust.

According to Smith, it was hard to speak out about being trafficked to family and friends because she was afraid people would raise questions and doubt her. Buckels said there are many different reasons as to why people don’t seek help.

“Sometimes it’s fear,” Buckels said. “Sometimes it’s money. They are getting paid to be quiet. Sometimes it’s adventure. Sometimes it’s the deal that they made. Like ‘I’m going to get my education paid for if I shut up and do this.’”

Regardless of the reason, Smith said she now realizes it’s better to speak up. 

“Find your person,” Smith said. “Find someone who you can connect with … find that one person who is willing to listen.”

Buckels said many people think trafficking is normal, and they think everyone does it.

“There are many, many parents that believe that sex is very much part of everybody’s life and everybody’s lifestyle,” Buckels said. “There’s no real point to protect children from it or to protect young adults from it; thus, you are born and raised to do this … this is what you’re going to be good at. Mom can do it; you can do it.” 

Smith said there are many different ways to be trafficked. Some of the most common ways are meeting people at truck stops or over social media. Traffickers will message girls on social media telling them they are beautiful, and many girls respond to these people because compliments feel good. Many traffickers start becoming friends with someone and get connected to the person before they make a move.

“A lot of people meet their traffickers no different than you would meet your future spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend,” Smith said. “You start dating somebody, and then the dating relationship turns into trafficking.”

Some people reluctantly have sex with someone because they might receive $100 the first time. Then the second time they have sex with someone, they expect to receive money, but traffickers keep it instead. 

The youngest child Buckels has worked with who was involved in sex trafficking was a 3-month-old. The oldest person she has worked with was 72 years old.

Buckels is currently working with a mother who is being trafficked by her landlord. Her husband works every day in Des Moines. Their landlord wants their three daughters, and the mom won’t let her daughters go. Her husband does not know his wife is being trafficked; his wife is being trafficked to keep her three daughters safe. 

Mike Fong, investigator of narcotics at Des Moines Police Department, said in many cases he has dealt with, the victims of sex trafficking already had a rough past before becoming trafficked. 

Fong is currently working on a case that has eight defendants, but he knows there are more. 

There are many more cases that are similar to Smith’s. People all around the world are being trafficked and are struggling to find an escape. According to endslaverynow.org, it’s estimated that there are 4.5 million victims of sex trafficking. Buckels said that people need to be more informed about trafficking worldwide. This should not be a conversation people shy away from. Inform yourself on sex trafficking.