CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A string of prostitution busts is raising questions about sex trafficking in the Queen City.
NBC Charlotte learned several people were arrested for soliciting prostitution in the past few weeks. It comes after new efforts this year to combat the problem of sex trafficking.
In the latest cases, three men were taken into custody: 68-year-old Charles Weanquoi, 27-year-old Ngoan Ralan, 48-year-old Henry Hartselle.
They’re all facing charges for solicitation of prostitution.
Police reports show the crimes happened near Sugar Creek Road and Reagan Drive at night. NBC Charlotte obtained mugshots of each of the suspects, but there are other faces that are not often shown; those involved in sex trafficking.
“That’s where the real crime is occurring, how those individuals are being exploited,” said Jane Harmon with the child advocacy organization, Pat’s Place.
Harmon said it’s important for law enforcement to target the source of the problem.
“Those who are purchasing, those who are creating the demand for it, as opposed to those who may be victims themselves,” Harmon said.
NBC Charlotte previously talked to Lanie George, who says she was a child sex slave. She said she was exploited for the first at just three years old.
“I had no idea it wasn’t OK for it to happen to a little girl,” George previously told NBC Charlotte.
This year, new public and private initiatives are meant to combat sex trafficking. CATS teamed up with a local non-profit organization to address the issue and FedEx trained drivers how to spot victims.
“They may have been coerced into it they have been forced into it, there are so many dynamics involved,” Harmon said.
The hope is to get the victims on a different path. Lanie George runs a home for sex trafficking survivors.
“The journey is hard, but it’s possible,” George said.
NBC Charlotte asked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department of the number of prostitution arrests this year, but that information wasn’t immediately available.