Content note: this page talks about trafficking, sexual assault, and system failure, without graphic detail. You can stop reading anytime. If you are a survivor: you were asking too, even if no one heard you.
The turning points
I'm Jada. I was trafficked as a kid. I have brain injuries and trauma diagnoses. I missed the basics most kids learn growing up, so I'm still learning them now, as an adult. I've been asking for help for over 20 years. These are the times I asked, and what they wrote down instead.
Before you read: this talks about trafficking, sexual assault, and violence, without graphic details. Every line in quote marks is copied exactly from my records or my recordings. I don't name the people who hurt me. If it gets to be too much, take a break. Come back when you're ready.
This is only the beginning. I don't have all my records yet. Some are still being held back, and some came back with pages blacked out. Every time I get more, more footprints appear.
Police found my footprints in the desert. Seven weeks later, I was the one locked up. The report that decided my future said "No victim"
Source: Juvenile court record, Oct 14, 2004
My footprints matched my shoes. I still got locked up.
No one followed.
Read the whole story
What happened to me
I was a child. Men drove me into the desert, because they thought I would tell police about an adult man's drug case. They fired a gun at my feet. One of them said: "YOU BETTER NOT BE A RAT AND THIS IS WHAT WE DO TO RATS." I was assaulted at gunpoint. I escaped out a window and ran.
What I did
They had taken my class schedule, so I hid at home for four days: "SHE THINKS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO FIND HER AT SCHOOL." Finally, I asked my parents to call the police. They didn't want to, but I made them.
What they wrote
Police listed the crimes against me, starting with "KIDNAP FIRST DEGREE" and assault with a deadly weapon. Twelve days after the desert, an officer went back and found "SEVERAL FOOT PRINTS IN THE AREA WHERE THE INCIDENT OCCURRED". They matched my shoes.
What happened next
No arrest appears in any record I have. Six days after I reported it, I was the one standing in juvenile court, admitting a drug charge. I was put on house arrest. I told the court's evaluator what happened. She wrote that I was "kidnaped and shot at by people." Her conclusion: "There do not appear to be any psychiatric issues at the current time." I told the court to send me back to youth prison. I waived all my arguments. I was made a "WARD OF THE STATE".
November 2006 to September 2007 · ages 17 to 18
My mom died. The system let me go. Then a man with a gun took me.
My mom died. A few months later, the court wrote: "Jada Sturman is no longer amenable for treatment as a juvenile."
Source: Youth parole report to the court, 2007
At 15 and at 18, I told the truth. Both times, I was the one punished.
No one followed.
Read the whole story
Age 17
After the desert, I was locked up, let out, and locked up again. At 16, when I went missing, the form checked "Danger to Self", and I was locked up again. At 17, a family member grabbed my neck and threw me against a wall. Police wrote "AGGRESSOR UNDETERMINED". I kept asking for one more chance: "opportunity to prove to her family and myself that through counseling efforts and employment" My parole officer: "it is a tragedy that she has not grasped the concept of a crime free life." No one asked what had been done to me. Then my mom died. The court minutes: "Minor's Mom passed away unexpectedly on Thursday." That "no longer amenable" line means: too old for the youth system, so it let me go. The same paper says I earned my GED while I was locked up. I was 18. I had aged out. No mom. No plan. No one assigned to me. The only ones waiting to "protect" me were predators. Less than three months later, a man held me at gunpoint.
Age 18
A man forced me into his car at gunpoint and held me for three days. When he took me to a store, I got away. I ran into another store, hid in a back room, and called 911: "METRO DISPATCHERS RECEIVED A 9-1-1 CALL FROM VICTIM" Police caught him after a chase. The report says a detective was on the way, "FOR AN INTERVIEW AND TO TAKE OVER THE CASE." The name is blacked out. No one ever came. On my recording: "I had nobody talking to me about that incident." Three weeks after I escaped, I was arrested in San Diego. The court index lists two co-defendants, decades older than me. Case type: "Criminal", filed 09/26/2007. On my recording: "nine twenty two oh seven was my first charges as an adult." And: "the one that I got arrested with in San Diego, I took the charges." My record does not say I was threatened, controlled, and forced. From then on, I had an adult record. I went back to Las Vegas. I kept calling 911.
What the records say
The only victims program in my file was one I had to pay: "determined by the Victim's Assistance Program."
2011 to May 2016 · ages 22 to 27
Las Vegas to Virginia: for my child, and a promise of family
I ran from Las Vegas because "my life was in danger."
Source: My recording, May 2016
A man promised me family. To keep my child safe from him, I sent her away.
No one followed.
Read the whole story
What happened to me
In 2012, I was employed at VIP Entertainment. I was in so deep. I was being controlled by people I was afraid of, and pushed into crimes I did not choose. A man tied my hands and broke my phone. A man sent me hundreds of threats. A man flashed a police badge, then robbed and assaulted me.
What they wrote
Police, 2011: "AFRAID FOR HER LIFE DURING THE ATTACK."
Police, 2012: "ABOUT 400 THREATENING MESSAGES ON HER CELL PHONE"
Police, 2014: "HE FLASHED THE BADGE FOR ONLY A SECOND" Three days after he robbed and assaulted me, I was the one arrested. Weeks later I was in prison.
What I did
I kept calling 911. I got a protective order. When I saw the man with the badge on the news, I reported him. Later I came back to court and testified against him. On my recording: "I helped testify against this guy that got two life sentences."
What happened next
In 2016, I walked into a police station myself and reported the coercion and corruption. I was the only one charged. I am still dealing with it in the courts today. In May 2016, I ran. A man promised me family and a safe place, and I went with him to Virginia. There, he trafficked me. "Thought I was going to safety ended up being a trap and stuck there." So many people promised me family, belonging, and love. That's how they coerced me.
Does any of this sound familiar? You can help me drown out the noise.
I called 911 to report trafficking. They wrote: "NO CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. EDP CIVIL."
Source: Virginia police record, Oct 15, 2020
Even with an open FBI case, I was sent back out.
No one followed.
Read the whole story
What happened to me
I had been in Virginia four years, homeless and moving between hotels and hospitals: "15 ED visits since 9/4/20 and 5 within the past 4 days." I was put out of my motel for "calling 911 too much".
What I did
I called 911 and asked for an officer trained in crisis, to report that I was a victim of human trafficking.
What they wrote
Two minutes into my call: "PER HX CALLER IS MENTAL HEALTH CUSTOMER." EDP means emotionally disturbed person. The next day, a hospital note says the hotline "confirmed that pt does have an active case with the FBI as of 10/14/20." The same note: "The Pt presents as a unreliable reporter."
What happened next
The crisis line said: "Outcome: Over Capacity" That means they were full. I was discharged: "Discharge Disposition: Left Against Medical Advice." Two weeks later, police cut a zip tie off my neck.
June 2023 · I was 34
Treatment completed. Here is your tent.
My discharge paper: "Treatment Completed Successfully."
Source: County crisis unit record, June 30, 2023
I'm glad I'm here. Then they sent me out the door: "Client was provided with a tent and a sleeping bag."
No one followed.
Read the whole story
What happened to me
I was being threatened and followed. I still had no case manager: "she is on the wait list for case management."
What I did
My life was in danger. I called 911 from my hotel room. I called every shelter, and I said plainly what I needed: help, safety, and protection, because I keep getting hurt.
What they wrote
They refused to help with it. The crisis unit said "We do not do housing or grant applications for individuals in care".
I never got to learn the everyday things. Could you teach me?
One week after the hardest day of my life, my therapist ended my care. I was left with no one.
What I did
I knew I might be in danger going with him. But this time, I had to get to my child. I did every step I was asked, so I could be with my child again. Then I asked a survivor agency, Adult Protective Services, my insurance, help lines, and a hospital for help. I recorded the calls because of my memory.
What they wrote
The survivor agency texted me: "I understand you require a higher level of care due to your disability..."
What happened next
In Virginia I had a caregiver 60 hours a week. In Nevada I have only 14. A man promised to provide for me. He said he would marry me, and even if we never married, he would take care of me no matter what. He broke that promise. Now the extra hours aren't being paid.
