-Daily Freeman Journal photo by Chad Thompson Michael Ferjak, a human trafficking consultant, speaks during a presentation at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City Tuesday night. Michael Ferjak, a human trafficking consultant, speaks during a presentation at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City Tuesday night.

Human trafficking is the second most profitable industry in the world, second only to drugs.

–Michael Ferjak

A truck driver parked at a gas station in New Kent, Virginia, thought the presence of black curtains on a nearby RV was strange.

Even more strange, he thought, was when he briefly spotted a young woman behind the curtain who appeared in distress, according to published news reports.

That’s when the trucker contacted law enforcement.

The incident occurred on Jan. 6, 2015.

It was later determined the young woman inside the RV was a victim of human trafficking. She was held captive and tortured by a couple from Iowa — Aldair Hodza and Laura Sorenson, both of Clive. Hodza and Sorenson have each been sentenced to more than 40 years in federal prison for their crimes.

Human trafficking isn’t always easy to detect, according to Michael Ferjak, a human trafficking consultant and retired law enforcement professional with 40 years of service.

But, according to Ferjak, what is important is that people recognize the absence of normal as that truck driver did that day in January 2015.

Ferjak presented information relating to human trafficking at Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City Tuesday night.

About 60 people attended the session. Iowa State Patrol troopers, firefighters and paramedics from Eagle Grove, Webster City, Stratford and Williams were among those in attendance.

Ferjak is president and chief executive officer of “I know a guy” training and consulting. He has trained more than 5,000 investigators on human trafficking.

He talked the multiple warning signs a person who is being trafficked may exhibit, including: poor work and living conditions, poor mental health or abnormal behaviors, and poor physical health.

“There’s no 100 percents here,” Ferjak said. “You have to use your judgments. If we believe it’s here ,we will look for it. It will be investigated.”

Ferjak said there’s still a belief that human trafficking isn’t prevalent, particularly in rural Iowa.

“We are facing a problem that everybody has a stake in,” he said. “Little towns are just as easy to work as the big towns.”

In fact, he said rural areas create safe havens for traffickers to operate undetected. Low law enforcement per capita is a factor.

Human trafficking is a multibillion dollar industry in the United States alone, and ranks second only to drugs as the most profitable industry in the world, according to Ferjak.

“Oftentimes, where you find one, you find the other,” he said.

Two major interstates, Interstate 80 and Interstate 35, intersect in Iowa. That connection puts people in Iowa at risk for commercial sexual exploitation, he said.

According to Ferjak, Iowa has 100 to 200 internet ads daily for the sale of sex.

He said events like the Iowa State Fair can increase daily internet ads by 400 percent.

“Human trafficking is slavery,” he said. “This person owns every aspect of you. You tell me the difference.”

Ferjak shared some misconceptions about trafficking.

“There is a myth of choice,” he said. “There is truly no choice.”

He referenced Stockholm syndrome. Stockholm syndrome is defined as a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity.

“They will offer whatever is missing in that kid’s life,” he said. “One of the most difficult interviews you will ever have is to turn that around. When trauma starts, development stops.”

He said human trafficking doesn’t require movement.

“Sex trafficking implies movement, but you don’t have to move for it to be considered human trafficking,” he said. “Are they moved? Yes, but usually to avoid detection or go to market. Legally, no current law requires movement for it to be trafficking.”

The elements of force, fraud or coercion are required for all persons above 18 years of age working in the sex industries to prove human trafficking.

Federal law states that any person under the age of 18 working in the sex industry is a victim of human trafficking regardless of the presence of force, fraud or coercion.

Fierjak pointed to 13 cases in Iowa that have been prosecuted since 2005. Nine of those have been since 2010.

But he said local statistics are nonexistent.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation started collecting human trafficking specific data in 2013. Human trafficking did not become a law enforcement priority until 2012 when it was included as one of the top five federal law enforcement priorities, he said.

Some arrests have resulted in lesser charges or prostitution because it may not have been recognized and investigated as trafficking, he said.

For police officers, detecting human trafficking versus another crime can be difficult to determine, especially when victims prefer not to be found.

“I think about when I was on patrol,” he said. “How many trafficking victims I sent on to the county line.”

But if officers know what to look for, more victims could be found and offenders put behind bars.

Ferjak wants people, especially law enforcement to be prepared.

“We don’t know when this person will surface, but we want people to know what to do,” he said. “If you are aware, you won’t be able to turn away from this problem.”