A teenage girl found walking along an Interstate in New Jersey had escaped traffickers who were forcing her to engage in prostitution, police said.
The girl, whose name hasn’t been released, was found walking along Interstate 295 in Mercer County last week.
An investigation found that Ashley Gardener, 29, and Breon Mickens, 26, had transported the teenager to multiple hotels and forced her into prostitution.
Gardener allegedly placed sexually suggestive advertisements of the girl on the notorious Backpage website.
“Fortunately, this victim was able to escape, and a concerned motorist called police to report that the victim was walking alone in the dark on Interstate 295. I urge the public to alert law enforcement whenever they see children or teens in suspicious circumstances, so we can investigate, rescue victims of human trafficking, and bring traffickers to justice.”
In addition, Gardener was charged with promoting prostitution and human trafficking of a minor while Mickens was charged with possession of marijuana.
Statistics are still being compiled for the entirety of 2017; however, data indicate there were 83 reported cases last year through June 30. Of those, 63 cases were sex trafficking, 16 were labor trafficking, 3 were sex and labor trafficking, and 3 were not specified.
The statistics are based on phone calls, emails, and webforms sent to the hotline that reference New Jersey.