SANFORD, N.C. — A Lee County man is facing a list of charges for human trafficking.
Daniel Linder is currently being held on a $2 million bond and is being held at the Lee County jail.Investigators tell WRAL that Linder’s victim was an adult.
More details : It turns out, he has 9 previous charges for other crimes over the last few years.
This is the first for human trafficking.The 25-year-old is charged with six counts of human trafficking and six counts of involuntary servitude.
Danyelle Smith is executive director of Bridge International, a group that helps survivors of human trafficking.
“Working in this field there is not a lot of surprise,” Smith said.Smith says the pandemic has not slowed criminal activity.
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“The pandemic effected all of us, right? Just because the highlight was on the pandemic, trafficking happens in every single corner of our state, large cities, rural areas, and people across social economic statuses,” Smith said.
Niki Rowe Cross is from North Carolina and a survivor of human trafficking.
She knows what Linder’s victim will need in the days to come, but she is afraid there is not enough support for other victims.
“What goes through my mind there is just not enough being done we don’t have enough advocacy groups with survivor leaders,” she said.
Both Smith and Rowe says the victim will need shelter, support, and someone willing to listen.
And this recent case shows that not even a pandemic has decreased human trafficking cases.“You would think with Covid the human trafficking cases would slow down, but it’s only gotten worse.”