Need help now? If a child is in danger, call 911 · Human Trafficking Hotline Help 24/7: 1-888-373-7888
Jimmy Ferguson
A frightened child with a hand over his mouth, a lost toy rabbit and a car on a dark road
Stolen

An Intensive Investigation on Child Trafficking · by Jimmy Ferguson

Scroll to look closer

It happens in plain sight.

Most children trafficked in America are American-born—and most know the person who exploits them. A survivor’s investigation into how it works, and how to stop it.

Discover the Book
The Book

An Intensive Investigation on Child Trafficking

Stolen Childhoods

Child trafficking is not an out-of-state problem that slips across a border. It is domestic infrastructure—highways, motels, online ads and the gaps between the systems meant to protect children.

Drawing on federal and Texas law, court cases, task-force reports and records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, survivor Jimmy Ferguson maps who controls this trade, who profits, who pays the price, and what it will take to end it.

226 pages40 chapters5 parts2026
Order the Book on Amazon

Available in hardcover and paperback

01The ArchitectureHow the cage is built
02The FieldInside the operations
03The Border and BeyondMyth versus reality
04The Courtroom and the SurvivorAfter the rescue
05The FutureA call to action
Look Closer

Hidden in plain sight.

Grooming rarely looks like danger. It looks like kindness. Move over each card—or tap it—to see what the book says is really happening.

What you seeA new friend who wants them all to themselves.Look closer →
What’s really happening

Isolation

The trafficker cuts the child off from family, school and good friends. Phones are taken. Locations change. Numbers are blocked.

What you seeSomeone who always takes care of everything.Look closer →
What’s really happening

Dependency

The trafficker becomes the only source of food, shelter and security—a deliberate trauma bond in which the abuser and the “rescuer” are the same person.

What you seeGenerous gifts: new clothes, make-up, a hotel room.Look closer →
What’s really happening

Indebtedness

Every gift becomes a debt. The debt is invented and flexible—it grows whenever it needs to, and the child is told they must pay it off.

From Chapter 1, “Architecture of Exploitation”: the three pillars of the cage.

A Letter from Jimmy

To every parent, and every child.

To every parent who has lost a child to trafficking, and to every child who is being manipulated by traffickers in this insidious trade: there is help available, and authorities are watching closely for the mistakes traffickers make.

I know what you are going through. It happened to me when I was 15 years old, and I kept it from many people because I felt weak and feared what others would think if they knew.

… Know that you are not alone. This evil will be eradicated. It must be stopped in every way possible.

JimmyFrom the dedication of Stolen Childhoods
What Readers Are Saying

Voices from the front line.

Parents, survivors, advocates and the people who work these cases, on what the investigation made them see.

Portrait of Jimmy Ferguson
Placeholder photo · replace with a professional portrait
About Jimmy

He walked through the dark. Now he maps it.

Jimmy Ferguson is a survivor and a child advocate. At 15, he was trafficked from Texas to Florida. For years he kept it to himself. Today he speaks out so that other children, and the parents who love them, know there is help and there is hope.

He started by helping kids in his own neighborhood and went on to found the Global Child Anti-Trafficking Network, which works with partners to keep children safe. He has studied child protection through Harvard.

15His age when it happened
40Chapters of investigation
1Mission: every child safe

“Your voice is the most effective weapon in this battle.”From Chapter 40

Get Help

You are not alone.

If you, or a child you know, needs help, these services are free, confidential and open 24/7.

  • A child in danger right nowCall emergency services first911
  • National Human Trafficking HotlineCall, or text 2337331-888-373-7888
  • Missing & exploited children (NCMEC)Report online: report.cybertip.org1-800-843-5678

This website is not a crisis service. The Quick exit button at the top leaves the site instantly.

Contact Jimmy

Speaking, interviews and partnerships.

Every child deserves a childhood.

Order the Book on Amazon