ADAMS TWP — Despite scary social media warnings, a black zip tie around a fence post, a dollar bill found under a windshield wiper at the mall, and suspicious men following a young mom around a department store are not the common ways human traffickers acquire their victims.

Timothy Wolford, supervisory special agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Pittsburgh office, gave a presentation on human trafficking Wednesday at the invitation of the Rich-Mar Rotary club.

The event, held at lunchtime at the Treesdale Golf & Country Club, set the record straight on human trafficking from the perspective of an FBI agent who investigates and prosecutes cases in the Pittsburgh area.

Wolford said 221 human trafficking cases were investigated in 2020 in Pennsylvania. Of those, 177 were sex trafficking.

He said human traffickers rarely grab victims from the street, throw them in a van and drive them to another state.

The victims Wolford has seen are almost always 13- to 16-year old girls who suffered mental, physical or sexual trauma as young children, homeless or runaway girls, or young teens who have been groomed and duped into a “relationship” they don’t understand is human trafficking.

“A victim does not need to be transported anywhere for it to be considered human trafficking,” Wolford said.

He said many victims, instead of feeling they have been rescued, refuse to talk to police because they have been brainwashed by their captors or because they are addicts who mistrust and avoid law enforcement officers.

In one case, his agents entered a hotel room where they suspected a woman was being forced to perform sex acts.

Wolford said when officers burst into the room where they had seen “johns” coming and going, the woman ran, naked and covered in bruises, out of the hotel and down the street.

An agent finally caught her and asked why she had so many bruises.

Wolford said the woman replied that her boyfriend beat her occasionally, but that they were in love and she had to work in the sex field so the couple could have money.

“Many times, they don’t see themselves as victims,” he said.

For that reason, it sometimes takes a year or longer for the victim to give a statement and agree with the prosecution of their captor.

Wolford said victim advocates who are trained trauma counselors are involved in every interaction with a victim, and continue to counsel them as the case against their captor moves forward.

In another case, a man asked a destitute young woman to clean his apartment in exchange for a place to stay, and the situation escalated to beatings and advertisements on nefarious websites to sell the woman for sex.

“He said, ‘You’re not cutting it financially. This is how you have to earn money,’” Wolford said.

An undercover operation was set up, and the trafficker was arrested and charged, but it took one year for the victim to talk to agents.

The woman eventually went to college and is now working with girls who have been trafficked.

“It’s very rewarding,” Wolford said of cases in which the female turns her life around.

Wolford said that sometimes women are taken to other states and forced to work in the sex trade.

In one case, a vulnerable 16-year-old girl with an abusive childhood who had never had a loving, caring man in her life was approached online by a trafficker who promised to give her the love she craved.

“That is what a lot of these guys pose as, at first,“ Wolford said.

He said the two met, smoked marijuana, had a sexual encounter, and he asked the teenager to ride with him to Maryland, where he had some business to attend to.

She became his captive in that state, where he advertised her availability and forced her to work in the sex industry.

Wolford said he and his agents sift through ads on various websites to determine if human trafficking could be occurring, then decide which cases to pursue.

He said 34,371 advertisements for commercial sex were posted in Pittsburgh in January alone.

“We try to go through all 34,000 ads and figure out which one is trafficking,” Wolford said.

Wolford said citizens should call 911 if they see a situation they feel could indicate trafficking, like a female not being allowed to speak for themselves, no financial control, signs of physical abuse, or signs of controlling behavior.

“It’s happening right here in Pittsburgh,” he said.

Roger Barna of the Rich-Mar Rotary said after the presentation that Wolford was invited to speak because he wants to acquaint members with the issue to see if it is a cause the group would like to take up.

“This is our first presentation on the issue,” Barna said. “We are going to consider what we can do as a club to help combat trafficking in this area.”

Michelle Bailey, a Keystone Rotary Club member and Mars resident, was shocked by Wolford’s presentation.

“It was very enlightening,” Bailey said. “This is a very difficult subject, but I would be open to and interested in getting involved.”

Mary Lord, president of the Rich-Mar Rotary, said Wolford gave a very informative presentation.

“To learn there were 34,000 sex ads in January in the Pittsburgh area, it’s just disgusting,” Lord said.

She said she will look into her Rotary group supporting one or more of the nonprofit groups Wolford listed that help trafficking victims.

Wolford acknowledged that seeing the worst of human behavior day after day is stressful, but the FBI offers “safeguarding” programs to agents like talking to psychologists or rotating out of human trafficking for a time.

“I’m a Christian, and my faith plays a big part in how I deal with evil and sadness,” Wolford said.