About 45 Children Are Missing in Cleveland: Nearly 30 Cases Were Reported in May

The number of missing teenagers in Cleveland has increased by about 15 people since May. Attorney Benjamin Crump recently reshared Dr. Iylasah Shabazz's Instagram post about 45 missing teenagers in Cleveland and surrounding areas. The New York Post stated in May, "Nearly 30 children have gone missing in Cleveland in the first two weeks of May, in an "extraordinary" surge of disappearances in the area, officials said. Cleveland police said 27 kids have been reported missing between May 2 and May 16, as Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy warns that the disappearances have reached unprecedented levels in 2023." Many missing cases of children, especially teenagers, are assumed to be related to human trafficking. Cleveland 19 stated on May 16, the "Cleveland Police Department records show a rash of reported missing children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. Since May 2, there have been 27 kids reported as active missing cases, and that number may be higher as some have been located and removed from the active file." Cleveland 19 also confirmed, "As a whole, Cleveland currently lists a total of 56 active missing children cases dating back a number of years, meaning almost half of the active cases are from just the past two weeks."

California is a leading state in human trafficking; thus, "The California Legislature approved legislation Wednesday to increase penalties for child sex traffickers, a seemingly simple bill that turned into one of the most divisive issues this year in the state Capitol, according to the Los Angeles Times." The LAT explained that Senate Bill 14 would classify sex trafficking of minors as a "serious" felony under California's penal code, which triggers the state's "three strikes" law that allows prosecutors to pursue life sentences in some cases. If passed, this will be an essential bill, considering that child abductions are at an all-time high in America. According to Global Missing Kids, 460,000 children go missing in the United States every year.

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