SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS

A day-long conference on modern slavery/human trafficking was held Friday at St. James Episcopal Anglican Church, Port Charlotte. It was presented by the Charlotte County Human Trafficking Coalition and the Southwest Florida Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Speakers and presenters for the conference, Lee County Det. Patrick Hayhurst; Southwest Florida Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking co-chairs Allison Martins and Yaroslaba Garcia; president Alex Olivares; Human Trafficking Awareness Partnership Nola Theiss; and the co-chairs of the Charlotte County Human Trafficking Coalition, Linda Lusk and the Rev. Arthur Lee of St. Andrews. Attendees from Charlotte, DeSoto, Hendry, Lee and Sarasota counties learned how to recognize possible signs of both labor and sex trafficking, and what to do to report possible cases to law enforcement.

SUN PHOTO BY BETSY WILLIAMS

Speaking on the jurisdiction and laws affecting the human trafficking of children and teens here in the United States, Lee County Det. Patrick Hayhurst spoke at the conference.