Annual Community Address to provide updates, trends

State and local officials will provide updates, trends and a forecast in the fight against human trafficking during an annual meeting of the Lowcountry Trafficking Task Force.

The presentation is set for 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 25, 2023, at the Hardeeville Recreation Center at 258 John Smith Road in Hardeeville. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. The program will start promptly at 10 a.m.

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

Kathryn Moorehead is expected to speak on behalf of the S.C. Office of the Attorney General. She is the director of Violence Against Women Act and Human Trafficking Programs. She is also the coordinator of the S.C. Human Trafficking Task Force. She brings over 20 years of experience in education, social work, advocacy, and public health.

Other presenters will include Hardeeville Police Chief Sam Woodward, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Carra Henderson, and task force co-chairs JoJo Woodward and Michelle Fraser.

Woodward has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience and currently is a cold-case investigator with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. Fraser oversees the day-to-day operation of the 14th Circuit Victims Services Center and its community partners. She has been a Solicitor’s Office victim advocate for more than 15 years.

The Lowcountry Human Trafficking Task Force is comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement professionals, members of state and federal prosecutors’ offices, clergy, victim-services providers and others interested in creating a community free from human trafficking. The regional task force is a member of the larger state Human Trafficking Task Force, created to prevent human trafficking, to protect trafficked victims and to prosecute traffickers. To learn more, go to https://sclchttf.wixsite.com/website.

The event is open to the public, but registration is strongly encouraged. To register, please contact Erinn McGuire at sclchttf@gmail.com or by calling (843) 790-6453.