# Taxi driver saves girl from sex traffickers. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 1, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089 "2017-01-01T20:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/21 "2017-01-03T22:01:12Z")
I wonder if Uber drivers consider it an insult to be referred to as a “taxi driver”? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/22 "2017-01-03T22:11:52Z")
This is skirting the line about dragging topics from other threads into unrelated ones. Let’s stop it at this post. No warning given. > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Not to mention food, health, and doctors. Pretty much everything contrary to Dopers’ conventional wisdom, really. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/23 "2017-01-04T01:08:49Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Not to mention food, health, and doctors. Pretty much everything contrary to Dopers’ conventional wisdom, really. Somebody has to step in to keep SDMB from becoming an echo chamber of non-contrarian conventional wisdom, hooting down any dissenter… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/24 "2017-01-04T01:45:18Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Somebody has to step in to keep SDMB from becoming an echo chamber of non-contrarian conventional wisdom, hooting down any dissenter… I said drop it the post just above yours. Drop it. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/25 "2017-01-04T07:46:34Z")
This is the part that bothers me: > [@](#): > > The victim was discovered to be a runaway, and she was sent to stay in an “alternative housing situation” until her parents or guardians could be located, police said. Maybe she ran away for a reason? I know a number of people who started selling sex as teenagers as an alternative to living in destructive home environments, and sometimes, for them, it actually was the better alternative. Not saying the driver shouldn’t have done what he did, he couldn’t have known either way, but it shouldn’t just be assumed this was the best outcome for the girl. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/26 "2017-01-04T09:32:04Z")
Gee, I don’t know. Having to sell her ass for money that she doesn’t get to keep, vs. not having to do that. Tough call. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/27 "2017-01-04T10:55:33Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > This is the part that bothers me: > > Maybe she ran away for a reason? I know a number of people who started selling sex as teenagers as an alternative to living in destructive home environments, and sometimes, for them, it actually was the better alternative. > > Not saying the driver shouldn’t have done what he did, he couldn’t have known either way, but it shouldn’t just be assumed this was the best outcome for the girl. Its a better alternative in the same way an Adder is less poisonous than a Cobra, but being bitten by either is not a desirable outcome. You really think that Child Services or local equivalent is unaware of that and will not investigate as far as practicable. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/28 "2017-01-04T14:07:13Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > So all three were arrested irrespective of age, and they were charged with a crime for which age is not a factor. And the taxi driver’s testimony is not that they committed a crime, but talked about one. Did an indictable act of prostitution ever take place? > > Unless the older women were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, there is no story here. Completely missing the point. The uber driver called _because_ the girl was underage. Had she been older he may not necessarily have called. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/29 "2017-01-04T14:41:05Z")
[In honor of jtur88](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19895368#post19895368) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/30 "2017-01-04T22:07:34Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > How did the driver know she was 16? As others have noted, the driver thought she was younger. Regardless, both men and women much older are trafficked. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/31 "2017-01-05T07:35:48Z")
> [@Jack Batty](#): > > Gee, I don’t know. Having to sell her ass for money that she doesn’t get to keep, vs. not having to do that. Tough call. > [@AK84](#): > > Its a better alternative in the same way an Adder is less poisonous than a Cobra, but being bitten by either is not a desirable outcome. > > You really think that Child Services or local equivalent is unaware of that and will not investigate as far as practicable. Try listening to the young people who are or have been in these situations, rather than making assumptions which are often surprisingly incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/32 "2017-01-07T03:17:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > How did the driver know she was 16? In many states (and nearly all countries), she would have been of age of consent, but not California. > > When the police responded, was there an arrest? I’d say that when you think it is a child, better to err on the protective side and be wrong than the other way around. You can apologize to an adult easily, you cant fix a wrecked child so easy You have a different idea? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/33 "2017-01-07T17:56:44Z")
…[Intermission Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qYU9b5OF8M)… ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/34 "2017-01-07T18:08:46Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > This is the part that bothers me: > > Maybe she ran away for a reason? I know a number of people who started selling sex as teenagers as an alternative to living in destructive home environments, and sometimes, for them, it actually was the better alternative. > > Not saying the driver shouldn’t have done what he did, he couldn’t have known either way, but it shouldn’t just be assumed this was the best outcome for the girl. It’s also possible she was abandoned, or separated from her family by mistake, or kidnapped by sex traffickers. So really, it seems like putting her in foster care at least temporarily is the immediate action to take, because the alternatives would be to just put her back out on the streets alone or put her in police custody, protective or otherwise. We know even less what the kid’s situation is like than the authorities do, and the authorities are at least in a position to try and figure it out so they can decide what to do in the long run. Anything else one way or the other is just a knee-jerk response. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/35 "2017-01-09T18:44:35Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > So really, it seems like putting her in foster care at least temporarily is the immediate action to take The foster care part wasn’t the part I objected to, it was the implication that she would be returned to her parents as soon as they could be located. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/36 "2017-01-09T19:01:57Z")
I think it’s safe to assume that the authorities will talk to her and if there is a reason she should not be in the custody of her parents/guardians, will not return her there. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/37 "2017-01-09T19:50:02Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I wonder if Uber drivers consider it an insult to be referred to as a “taxi driver”? Oddly enough, that was my first reaction. I had already read this news story several days ago and was sure it was an Uber driver. Perhaps taxi drivers know to mind their own business. …just kidding… Yes, the Uber driver thought the girl was even younger than 16, and was suitably alarmed. Sure, the girl may end up back on the streets, but at least the pimps were busted. Who knows what the John thought he was getting into (figuratively and literally), but his ass is grass now. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/38 "2017-01-10T06:40:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think it’s safe to assume that the authorities will talk to her and if there is a reason she should not be in the custody of her parents/guardians, will not return her there. So much of what gets said about sex trafficking is wrong, it’s not really safe to assume anything. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089/39 "2017-01-10T07:09:41Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Try listening to the young people who are or have been in these situations, rather than making assumptions which are often surprisingly incorrect. I deal with young people in this situation all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxi-driver-saves-girl-from-sex-traffickers/776089.md?page=1)