Last week I attended a summit in Casper put on by the Wyoming 2-1-1 and the Wyoming State Department of Health, focused on bridging the gap in communities between those in need and resources to help them. I attended this conference as a member of the leadership team of Weston County’s 21 Wellness Prevention Coalition, a cross-sector collective of community leaders, educators, healthcare workers, law enforcement, and others here in Weston County working to increase prevention and wellness awareness to the community and provide resources to those in need. Joining me in Casper for the summit was Kristi Lipp, Coordinator of 21 Wellness.
I wrote several pages of notes during the conference of topics such as suicide prevention, outreach to ask-risk demographics in the community, transitory and homeless populations, veterans outreach and resources (always an important topic to me as a veteran), non-profit board training, and child sex trafficking in Wyoming. Though I took a lot away from every educational session I attended and have plans to share much of it with my peers on the three boards I currently serve on, the one which haunts me the most, not just as a community leader but as a father, family-man, and uncle, is the session on child trafficking in Wyoming, and its prevalence even in small towns.
I’m not naïve enough to think horrendous things like that wouldn’t or don’t happen in Upton or elsewhere in Weston County up here in our little quiet area of Wyoming, but it was sobering to be confronted with the statistics and the details by Terri Markham, cofounder and executive director of Uprising, a Sheridan-based nonprofit organization dedicated to combating human trafficking and exploitation through awareness, prevention education, and community outreach. Uprising also happens to be Wyoming’s only trafficking-focused organization. During her presentation, Markham mentioned Newcastle specifically as the site of a known sex-trafficking circuit.
Though Wyoming likely has much more labor trafficking than sex trafficking, established sex trafficking rings and circuits have nonetheless been found throughout Wyoming, even in rural communities. And the number one form of sex trafficking in Wyoming is called familial trafficking. In this form of trafficking, family members or guardians of minors invite strangers into their home to take advantage of their children for money, drugs, or other forms of payment. These victimized youth have been found to still go to school and even participate in school sports and other extracurricular events, but they often exhibit signs of weariness and exhaustion since they frequently don’t get the opportunity for relaxation and comfort in their homes at night. School becomes a safe space for these victims of familial sex trafficking.
Wyoming’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) cybertips line has skyrocketed from 199 tips in 2018 to 1,111 in 2024. And the arrests and number of Wyoming child victims identified has also blown up from 9 arrests and 16 child victims recovered in 2020 to 68 arrests and 20 child victims recovered in 2024. These results could be interpreted as either crimes against children on the rise here in Wyoming, or perhaps that crimes against children are becoming reported more frequently than they were in the past.
Though law enforcement agencies and organizations like Uprising aim to rescue the victims of sex trafficking and bring justice to the despicable individuals who perpetrate these crimes, there are several things we can do as parents and community members to protect our local youth at risk of trafficking, and there’s things our youth can do themselves to stay safe. As a community, and especially those skilled and generous staff who work in our peerless school district, we need to keep an eye out for those most vulnerable to exploitation. Children who tend toward habitual exhaustion during the day and standoffishness when it comes to details about their home life warrant some extra care. Youth deterrents to trafficking are to have trusted adults in their lives, a sense of connection and belonging in the community (instead of just online), digital literacy about how to be responsible online, believing in themselves and their potential for success, capacity for setting boundaries with others, and being able to communicate their needs and feelings.
One of ten Wyoming teens have been targeted on their smartphones or social media for sexploitation, involving inappropriate photos and such behavior. Additionally, one in ten Wyoming teens have sent nude photos of themselves to others. Many times, these youth don’t notify their parents or trusted adults for fear of getting in trouble when someone engages with them inappropriately. So, be open with your children, and let them know they won’t be in trouble if they tell someone when an individual is inappropriate with them, online or in-person.
Upton Police Chief Brian Meals has over 30 years in law enforcement, much of it in high-crime areas jurisdictions prior to coming to Upton, and I asked him to share some of his advice as well, in regards to at-risk youth and trafficking.
“Everybody should remain vigilant and report anything that doesn’t look or feel right,” Chief Meals remarked, continuing, “Even if it turns out to be nothing, it’s better to report it than to let a child continue in that unhealthy environment.”
Our Wyoming youth need to know they have adults in their lives who can be a safe space and a solace from the predatory darkness roaming our communities, wilds, vast roadways, and the infinite digital vastness of the internet. Be that safe space, and let’s make sure trafficking has no presence in the “Best Town on Earth”.
For more information and resources, visit uprisingwyo.org and 21wellnesscoalition.org, or have a discussion with your local law enforcement.