Voices for Voices®

Sex Trafficking at Major Events: Fighting Back with San Diego County DA Summer Stephan | Ep 296

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 296

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Sex Trafficking at Major Events: Fighting Back with San Diego County DA Summer Stephan | Ep 296

Summer Stephan has devoted her life to protecting the vulnerable. Since age 12, when she saw exploited children in a National Geographic photo, the San Diego County District Attorney has worked tirelessly to remove "that look of hopelessness" from victims' eyes.

At a recent press conference ahead of Comic-Con, Stephan delivered a powerful message to potential traffickers: "You're not welcome here." This stance exemplifies her leadership in the fight against human trafficking, which she calls a national model. Her office has pioneered specialized prosecution teams and trained law enforcement to recognize and respond to trafficking with empathy and expertise.

The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force operates around the clock, bringing together multiple agencies to recover victims and apprehend offenders. Their success is remarkable—at last year's Comic-Con alone, they arrested 14 traffickers and rescued 10 victims, including a 16-year-old. Stephan emphasizes that trafficking doesn't just happen overseas; it happens in our communities and at our events.

Trafficking survivor David Solomon provides heartbreaking testimony about being trafficked beginning at age 11. He describes the powerful psychological manipulation traffickers employ—what Stephan calls "psychological kidnap"—that keeps victims trapped even without physical restraints. "I still wanted to go back to him," Solomon reveals about his captor, illustrating how effective this grooming can be.

Perhaps most shocking is Stephan's ten-year battle to change California law that currently treats buying children for sex as merely a misdemeanor. "We're basically saying if you can afford it, go ahead...exploit human beings," she notes with frustration. Thankfully, legislation to address this sits on the governor's desk after passing both legislative chambers.

What can communities do? Stephan urges vigilance for subtle signs of trafficking: Is someone speaking for the potential victim? Do they seem disoriented about time or location? There's no stereotype for what traffickers look like—they could be neighbors, authority figures, or wealthy individuals hiding in plain sight.

Join the fight against human trafficking by learning these warning signs and reporting suspicious activity. Together, we can create a society where every human being lives with dignity and safety, free from exploitation.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Introduction to the Voices for VoicesⓇ Show

4:53 DA Summer Stephan: Fighting Human Trafficking

10:11 Task Force Success and Community Education

17:33 Reporting Systems and Victim Trust

24:13 Psychological Manipulation and Victim Recognition

30:34 Grooming and Control Tactics

#SexTrafficking #HumanTraffickingAwareness #FightBackAgainstTrafficking #SanDiegoDA #SummerStephan #MajorEventsSafety #StopTheTrafficker #CommunityAwareness #EndHumanTrafficking #SurvivorStories #ProtectOurChildren #LawEnforcementActions #AdvocacyForChange #EventSafetyTips #PublicEducation #SanDiegoCounty #ComicCon25 #ComicCon2025 #ComicCon #DavidSolomon #California #ChildrenNotForSale #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #factoverfictionmatters #transparency #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether

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Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

Hey everyone, thank you for joining us on another episode of the show. We are grateful to have you with us. If you've been with us since the beginning or if this is your first episode, you're really in for a treat with our guests today just couldn't be more happy, excited and grateful for her to spend her time with us, as the content and topic matches what the organization and what we are trying to help do, not only in the state of Ohio, but in San Diego County, across the state of California and across the United States, and so we just want to say thank you for being with us and allowing us to come into your home, to your earbuds, your watch and your listening. Thank you so much so I'm going to start with a bio on our guest to do justice for it. First off, I will say that I came in contact through a news article of a press conference that was held earlier this week ahead of Comic-Con, which is one of the biggest events, definitely in the United States and probably across the world. There's people and tourists and fanatics that come in from all over the United States and all over the world, and with a big event, the district attorney, summer Stephan of San Diego County, the district attorney Summer Stephan of San Diego County, her and a couple advocates had a press conference and they were sharing earlier this week about how in the past, with large events, you have good people and maybe some people that aren't as good and have maybe ulterior motives. And when she mentioned, and advocates were mentioning about how important human trafficking, sex trafficking, is to their county, but especially for this event, but all across the whole entire year. It just happens that this is a huge event, this Comic-Con, going on right now, and that's why this episode is very important for us to film and to get out at this time.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

And Summer said hey, you're not welcome here. If this is some activity that you've planned on doing. You may have tried in the past, and so that really intersected with our good friend and human trafficking, sex trafficking survivor, David Solomon, and the work we've been doing the last couple months, really having him step out and be a light for all survivors of any type of abuse. So we're going to jump into District Attorney Summer Stephan's bio so we can get this little background of her, and so this information comes from the official San Diego County website, from her bio, and so I'll be quoting different sections. So at the beginning, in quote District Attorney Summer Stephan has devoted her life to protecting children and families, providing justice to the most vulnerable and is a national leader in the fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

End quote that right there, in a few words, a couple sentences, is truly just remarkable. Truly just remarkable that there is a leader of her caliber that is willing to step in and say, as was mentioned in this press conference earlier this week, that you know, you're not welcome here in our county and at our events. And that is a very strong message to send. And we think that the model and the way Attorney Stephan has grown up into her role and being a leader and having so many people look up to her for her expertise, her guidance, that maybe there's other counties, other cities, jurisdictions across the United States and, for that matter, across the world, they can take maybe a page out of her book. So we want to welcome to the show District Attorney of San Diego County. We want to welcome to the show District Attorney of San Diego County. We have with us, from San Diego County, attorney Summer Stephan. Thank you so much for joining us.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

Thank you so much for having me and for providing a platform for the voices of victims and survivors because, as you well have learned or know, they often their voice is is smothered, it's not heard, and I was delighted to come and join you today because of the fact that you've focused on letting the human voice come out and for stories to come out, and stories of courage as well as stories of pain.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

Absolutely, and we actually have. Our good friend, David Solomon has joined us because he is going through and has gone through this unfortunate, bad, bad activity and he has chosen to be a light. He's chosen to lead, which is really hard to do, being in these situations and the power that some of these individuals have. So, david, I'll just give you the floor to just share the thanks for District Attorney Summer Stephan.

David Solomon:

Well, I just wanted to say a personal thank you from me and my family, because it's people like you, fighting for people that have faced just the scrutiny and every day, just faced that uphill battle, and I'm a voice for those that have not gotten away and also try to be a voice to stop that from ever happening and try to make people aware that this is happening and it's not in Africa or Asia or other countries, it's right here, and Comic-Con is such a big moment for traffickers, including my own, to use to their advantage. So I'll let you have the floor, but a personal thank you from me and my family.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

I hope we can meet in person one day. It's my first interaction with you, but I'm aware that you were willing to share your story and while your case happened out of state I have jurisdictional lines, so I wish I could have helped you then. But I'm trying to amplify the voices of survivors as much as I can, especially pushing for historic legislation for California. That it's kind of really crazy, to tell you the truth. I know I should use more bigger lawyerly words, but it's a bit unbelievable that this is not already law that we have to fight.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

And I've been fighting for the last 10 years to change the law in California so that you know buying of human beings for sexual exploitation, who are children, you know, 16, 17-year-olds that can't consent under the law, but our law makes it a misdemeanor to purchase them like they were a hamburger or a slice of pizza.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

And what message does that send about the way that we care about people? We're basically saying if you can afford it, go ahead. You know, exploit human beings. So you know it's been a long battle, but the voice of survivors from across California that came alongside me and the author, maggie Krell, have made such an incredible difference and we're hopeful it sits on the governor's desk, but we're hopeful that this time it's going to pass because it passed through the Senate and the Assembly. So keep speaking out, because eventually the doors start to open and people see the truth and the light and they see that the old stories about how you know people are, um, choosing a life of exploitation, of being, you know, sexually assaulted, and is that? That's a lie, that's, that's the. The ugly truth is that being prostituted, being sexually exploited or labor exploited, that's a crime and we have to treat it as such yes, and and not many people are doing that, especially in this state.

David Solomon:

Um, I've seen it. I've seen it.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

Yeah.

David Solomon:

And my heart goes out to you, because that does need to be passed into law.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

Yep, yes, and I'm hopeful, but it's been a 10-year battle and you know, every time it gets rejected, I think, is it? How can this be Like? This is so obvious that this should be treated as seriously as it is and should be treated as a felony. Always say, we're a nation of laws, that the rule of law matters, but if our laws don't spell out our values in a clear way, then we've kind of lost our way. So, yeah, so I'm very happy to join you to talk about this.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

Go ahead, Justin.

David Solomon:

Yeah, we're honored. I was blown away.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

I was like Go ahead, justin. Yeah, we're honored. I was just blown away. I was like this is so amazing to have you, especially at this time, during this large event, but having similar ideas, similar beliefs around human trafficking, sex trafficking, that law enforcement has been helpful in that in your tenure and that that's important as well in your tenure, and that that's important as well because of, I think, how the judicial process works, that law enforcement has to do their thing before it gets to your office. And so if there's not kind of that help and that guidance and you know that alignment, if there's not kind of that help and that guidance and you know that alignment, that can make things really difficult for you.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

You're spot on. So, yeah, to build. So I was really just kind of living out my dream. That started when I was 12 years old and I wanted to. I saw a picture in the National Geographic of some girls in North Africa that had like this hopeless, fearful look in their eyes and they're abused, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life taking that look of hopelessness away from someone's eyes. So I, you know, became a prosecutor and using the law to protect the most vulnerable and was able to pioneer a really strong model that's become a model for the nation a sex crimes and human trafficking division that has a team that is an expert, but, like you said, that has a team that is an expert. But, like you said, just having an expert prosecution team is not enough because you need law enforcement to be well trained. So I was able.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

Before I became the elected district attorney in 2018, I focused on building the special Victims Unit and then began to do trainings and change the laws in California at the very inception of human trafficking laws, which began in 2005. And I'm so proud to say that our Human Trafficking Task Force, which is a 24-7 multi-agency from San Diego police sheriff, from department of justice, all the agencies coming together that work 24 7 on recovering victims of human trafficking. They are like the best example you want to see. I'm, I tell everybody this. You know my police officers in San Diego County. They have tears when they recover a human being that's been subjected to this kind of pain. They're real, they're human, they're authentic, they're truly there to protect the victims and to address and, you know, take out the I don't mean like take out, but remove the offenders. So it's a united community. You know, last Comic-Con this task force did a very concerted operation that was highly successful. They arrested 14 offenders and they recovered 10 victims, including a 16-year-old who was, you know, being sex trafficked, and they are constantly on the watch.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

But we need our entire community. We need an educated community, because police can't be everywhere, they can't be the eyes and ears. Working with Mr Shane Harris, who leads an organization focused on justice issues, and Marissa Ogarte and other advocates, Our message is united together and the police department came on board in the press conference to basically say we don't consider it in San Diego entertainment to buy a human being for sex. It's a crime and we're going to address it as a crime and if you come into our town and think that entertainment is, you know, subjecting people to abuse, it's not going to work for us. We're going to take action and you should expect that someone's going to report it, because we're really educated our community, and that maybe there'll be an undercover police officer right next to you and you don't know it and we're going to take care of business.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

That's so important that you mentioned the reporting, because you know, just, I'll say, with anything, but just coming from corporate America and in different places where you know there's a hotline you can call and say, hey, if you're seeing this type of abuse or things happening, you can call and there won't be retribution against you and sometimes those are handled in the proper way and sometimes they're not. And so to hear you talk about that reporting is huge, because I know it with david, uh, that was, that's something we're, we're still battling. We're uh with uh, with his, his trafficker, and in that situation is, uh, it was reported many, many times. It happened in 2012. And, for whatever reason, actions weren't taken, and so people are like why is it taking this long for you to come back around? And it really was.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

I don't want to take all the credit because it wasn't all me and it wasn't all voices for voices, but it was a big part and given David an avenue, a way to get his voice out and share it with people that may not. They may think again these things happen in other areas of the world. They don't happen here in the United States, and even from having a national human trafficking case number which David has. It's just an incredible and, david, I've said this many times too, but it's because of your continuing and your mom has passed away, but while she was alive she was one of your biggest advocates and was reporting and doing as much as she could, and so I think that is awesome in San Diego County where there's actually that support of, okay, yeah, if a tip comes in, we'll do our due diligence, and at least that part is missing at different areas across the nation. And I think that's a big model of not just saying, hey, report this tip, but having somebody at your level and having that integration with law enforcement and advocates and authors and survivors is really critical to help the confidence of the constituents in your county and in my county, of saying, yeah, we believe when we're being asked about or when we're asking people to report a certain thing, a certain type of crime, and that is. That's just so big.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

I experienced that in the corporate world where I reported some activity that you know, look at the code of conduct and all that and ethically and things weren't really matching up and there was really no investigation and nobody even tried to look at the situation. So I think that some people might say, oh, that's a small thing, but it's really not thing. But it's really not, because if the constituents lose that confidence in people like you and your team and your fellow county officials, then that's a hard thing to really get past. They're like well, you know what. They tell me to call or they tell me to report, I report, and nobody even asked for my side Now whether it can be prosecuted with the different. You know beyond a reasonable doubt.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

That's one side of things, but there's so many people that they feel that they're not even being heard and so thank you for sharing that bit of you know that reporting because it seems small and minor, but the fact that that's the part and you're advocating for that if you see something, if something looks out of the ordinary, if you go ahead and report that and then the county will look at it and it may go forward. It may not, but at least there are advocates that, as you mentioned, law enforcement having tears when they're recovering and safely bringing somebody back home from the unfortunate trafficking events, and that's really big and it's a big, you know, with Epstein and all these things. I mean it's truly a national issue and that's just huge to have you do what you're doing, and you've been doing it for 10 years and you know it's not a fast process, but you have that perseverance like you're. You're like, yep, this is just an obstacle. I'm just, I'm going to keep doing this because this is this is what's right.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

That's right, and you put it in such real terms that it's so easy to lose trust. You know, when you tell people to do something and then you don't respond. One of the things that I think is part of the model of San Diego is, even if we can't go forward with a case because the proof isn't beyond a reasonable doubt, we make every attempt to personally our team meet with the victim to explain that their report still matters, and the reason it matters is we've had many cases where that report helps build the beginnings of a case so that when more evidence develops or, god forbid, if there's another victim which sadly, these predators usually have additional victims we can put all the pieces together and build a strong case like they weren't heard or they're not been believed, but explaining the system that we have, which is a good system and it's one where sometimes the guilty go free because of the proof beyond reasonable doubt, but we're able to validate their courage and that's super important and provide victim services in terms of trauma, which many of our victims need a lot of psychological trauma help and mental health supports and other things after what they experienced. We had a very successful operation this past year where we recovered 16 victims and this is in San Diego I mean, this is not in a foreign country like you mentioned and eight of them were kids, the youngest a 13-year-old.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

And this 13-year-old, initially, when she was recovered, she did not want to be recovered because the abusers psychologically manipulate the victims into believing this is their choice. This is, you know, it's a formula of psychological kidnap, is what I've termed it's, which is sometimes stronger than kidnapping somebody forcefully and putting them in the back of the car. It's the psychological deception and kidnap that keeps people in their victimization because they don't think they can escape or that anyone will believe them. And so it took a while for this kiddo, after she was safely with her grandmother, to start to process her trauma and, you know, being essentially sexually assaulted, raped by so many men that bought her, you know, for the benefit of the trafficker and the people that we want to get is not just the trafficker but those people that thought it's okay for money to abuse this child.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

And this, of course, like you mentioned, epstein, and we have to remind the public that the face of the predator is not a stereotype. It's not what you might think a stereotype. It's not what you might think it's like could be your neighbor, your person, who's a religious figure, or they're a you know, somebody that looks like they could do no wrong, or obviously someone rich and powerful. Yeah, unfortunately there is no stereotype for what a trafficker looks like or what a exploiter, a criminal buyer looks like. So we need to really be alert more to detect the victims and not necessarily to stereotype what the offender will look like. So what I always explain to the public is you're probably not going to see bruises, you're not going to see chains. You'll have to look for the subtle signs. Is the victim speaking for themselves or is the person speaking for them? Because they don't want them to answer the question the wrong way? That will lead to detection.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

Do they even know what day of the week it is? It's incredible how many victims I've met when we first recovered them. Their days of abuse all roll together. They don't know what day of the week it is. Sometimes they don't know what city they're in, especially like for big events like Comic-Con. They're being moved from city to city. Wherever there is a big event where there could be a lot of profit to be made and a lot of potential victim pools and potential buyers. That's where they're going. So it's not that the Comic-Con is a bad event they're going. So it's not that the Comic-Con is a bad event. It's a wonderful, creative event. Nor is a baseball game or a football game. It's just the fact that traffickers and abusers are looking for opportunity, and big events provide that opportunity.

David Solomon:

And one of the big things with Comic-Con, if I may, because I'm a writer is costumes, so they can hide behind literal masks and they can make you go missing scene. And that's not to scare anyone, it's just a reality that it's so dangerous because they feed on that idea that, oh, I can hide in plain sight and you're gonna think I'm a friend of your favorite comic character, your favorite hero, and trust me. And also, what you got into there, like with me, was grooming and you touched on it beautifully. You know, I was 11 when I met my captor and I had no idea, you know, and I didn't want to. I didn't want to, even after being taken out of the country over the border and you know all the things, I still wanted to go back to him.

David Solomon:

And that shows you the grooming that these people do and no one understands that. They think, oh well, you get away and it's over. No, no, no, that's not it. And the abuse, like not knowing what time it is or day it is like, I can totally relate to that. That was so beautifully said. And comic-con is not a bad event, but any big event presents danger, with people that have minds of these activities. They sense money and they sense a human being as just a paycheck.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

And thank you for supporting my analysis of, you know, the many years two decades of fighting this and having prosecuted my own cases in this realm. The grooming is so critical because it is psychological brainwashing and so the captor doesn't have to even watch the victim anymore. The victim is trapped by their own, you know, deranged picture that has been put in their head through this really diabolical psychological grooming. Like I mentioned, our 13-year-old, it took her a long time. One night she started texting our investigator and she basically said you know, katie, I'm having these nightmares. The flashbacks are coming back, because she was just starting to realize what had happened to her While she was in it. She didn't see it, she thought that this is normal, this is like what love looks like and the predators are really.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

You know, we had this very interesting case that really we learned our whole task, were learned a lot from. This was an adult victim and you know, know, we have to remember that adult victims are still victims and for the most part, they started in being exploited as children and then, naturally, they didn't suddenly switch into being free human beings at 18 and we couldn't tell what was going on. She had a phone. She looked like she was running her own activity. But this gal was getting skinnier and skinnier. She looked so in need of help, but she refused to tell us what was happening until we went up on a wire, which took a lot of work, but we didn't want this gal to die on us and we could hear now what was happening. And what was happening was her trafficker was threatening her with the one thing that she loved. It was her dog. He would take her dog when she didn't meet the CODA.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

Sorry that I'm cutting and we got like 20 seconds left.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

Yeah yeah, Put your dog into a and would threaten her that the dog would be euthanized if she didn't continue. So these are the things that our victims go through. We have to continue fighting for a free society with dignity and safety for every child and every human being.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Hayes:

Absolutely. Thank you so much, San Diego County DA Summer Stephan.

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