BEAUMONT, Texas — The Texas Department of of Public Safety (DPS) says that 28 million victims of human trafficking have been identified across the globe.
Interstate 10 has become a popular route for transporting victims. DPS says they have rescued more than 20 juveniles in Southeast Texas in 2023.
On the last day of Human Trafficking Awareness Month, 12News spoke with a survivor.
Rhonda Kuykendall was approached at the age of 10, when her trafficker promised her a successful modeling career. Like many victims, she would end up enduring years of abuse.
Many survivors share a similar story to Kuykendall's. She says being a victim of human trafficking is a lifelong sentence.
"You hear people say things like 'well get over it', there is no getting over being a victim of this kind of crime," said Kuykendall.
After suffering years of abuse in her childhood home, things only got worse when Kuykendall met Mark Turner.
"I met him at an apartment complex and he came up to me and asked me if I wanted to be a model. I was 10-years-old," she said.
She says Turner began trafficking her first in Fort Bend County, then Houston and eventually Lubbock.
"A child can not consent to have sex. It would take me years before I could actually speak out," Kuykendall said.
Turner was eventually caught.
"He's been convicted in Texas, Kansas, California and back in Texas. I still deal with my trafficker, as early as May of last year I had traveled to El Paso for a parole revelation hearing. And after 40 years I sat in front of him," said Kuykendall.
DPS Spokesperson Lieutenant Craig Cummings says human trafficking is the second most profitable crime in the world.
It's not uncommon for children to become targets, especially with the rise of social media.
"That victim feels like they've got a friend and it's a wolf in sheep's clothing," Cummings said.
Now predators are able to meet with victims, without either having to leave their house.
"Like with my story, that trafficker had to come into physical contact with me to meet me. Today that is not the case," Kuykendall told 12News.
DPS has managed to rescued 600 children from traffickers, according to Cummings.
"Our interdiction for the protection of children has train 13,000 people across the nation in how to identify missing, exploited children," he said.
In Houston Kuykendall is working on getting her Master's Degree in social work and she spends time in Austin advocating for young victims.
We are getting better as a society with charging these crimes. You can heal, and you can get stronger," she said.
Cummings says the best advice he can give to parents is to have open communication with their kids.
If you see signs of human trafficking, you can always report suspicious activity and even include pictures on the DPS iWatchTexas app.