A Wyoming man has made it his life’s mission to help rescue girls in Colombia who have been victims of sex trafficking.
Tyler Schwab first encountered sex trafficking during a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dominican Republic.
He started noticing a lot of younger girls with older men, but didn’t think much of it until he took a seminar on human trafficking at Utah State University.
“It was an injustice that I couldn’t ignore,” Schwab said. Cowboy State Diary.
In 2014 she founded the non-profit organization Libertas International, which has saved more than 3,000 girls from pedophile tourists in Colombia.
In 2014, Tyler Schwab launched the nonprofit Libertas International, which has saved more than 3,000 girls from pedophile tourists in Colombia.
“There were children, especially girls, who reported that they had been abused by American tourists,” Schwab said. (pictured: him hugging a girl he helped save)
“Colombia is a very beautiful country for tourists, but over time we have had an influx of sex tourism, especially after the pandemic,” Schwab said.
“There were children, especially girls, who reported that they had been abused by American tourists.”
Major Johan Aldana of the Colombian National Police told Cowboy State Daily that sex tourism has been on the rise in cities such as Medellín, Cali, Cartagena and the county capital, Bogotá.
In 2023, there were 1,259 possible cases of sexual exploitation of minors in Bogotá, Colombia, 60 percent more than the previous year, the Associated Press reported.
About 1.4 million tourists visited the country last year as crime and violence declined under the leadership of the famous Pablo Escobar.
Many of those tourists were Americans, and although Escobar has been dead for more than three decades, the culture of prostitution he normalized has persisted in the country.
In January, Schwab and his team rescued a 19-month-old girl after former NYPD officer Agmad Beharry, 46, sexually exploited her.
The girl is the youngest survivor the nonprofit has saved.
“We are committed to supporting this survivor as she grows, learns to speak, etc.,” Libertas International said in a Facebook post.
Beharry was also accused, along with his accomplice, Gisainet Cristina Chirinos Viloria, of sexually exploiting photographs of a nine-year-old girl, the United States Attorney’s Office saying.
Following his arrest, Beharry, assigned to the NYPD’s terrorism unit, was suspended without pay and charged at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. .
On April 3, Federico Gutiérrez, mayor of Medellín, implemented a temporary ban on prostitution after an American man was found with two Colombian teenagers, ages 12 and 13.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has also been involved in trying to reduce prostitution in the country.
In January, Schwab and his team rescued a 19-month-old girl after former NYPD officer Agmad Beharry, 46, sexually exploited her.
Following his arrest, Beharry, assigned to the NYPD’s terrorism unit, was suspended without pay and charged at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. .
Last year, Operation Archangel was launched, when Liberates International, Colombian authorities and the US Department of Homeland Security worked together to take down more American sex tourists. (pictured: Schwab with another young survivor)
A girl, whose name is Milagros, recently became trapped in a sex trafficking ring, and thanks to the help of Schwab and her nonprofit, she was able to get the help she needed.
A police officer gave Schwab’s information in a written note after she and three other women were violently abused by an American man.
With their support, Milagros testified at her abuser’s trial in US federal court in May 2023.
She is now in school studying to be a social worker and runs a small business from home. She dreams of one day working for a nonprofit organization.
Michael Roberts, 41, a Texas teacher who worked at a girls’ school, was later charged with unlawful sexual abuse of minors and sentenced to seven years in federal prison in the United States.
Last year, Operation Archangel was launched, when Liberates International, Colombian authorities and the US Department of Homeland Security worked together to take down more American sex tourists.
Since the operation began, more than a dozen men have been arrested and 30 open cases are still pending.
Just last week, a Miami pharmacist was arrested at an airport when he tried to board a flight to Bogotá to have sexual relations with minors aged 10 and 12.
In exchange for 300,000 dollars in Colombian pesos, about 77 US dollars, the man abused children and promised them iPhones if they ‘did not cry’.
Another predator, MMA fighter Jaymes Schulte, was also captured and charged in November on suspicion of sex trafficking and distribution of illegal videos involving victims as young as 13.
To make matters worse, many of the girls are being exploited by family members in exchange for money, Aldana said.
“From a professional standpoint, I’ve worked with organized crime and drugs, but sexual exploitation is a very different animal because they are real people,” he said.
“These are girls who have had horrible lives and are innocent victims who are being exploited.”
Schwab said once a girl is rescued, she receives continued help and care from Libertas International.
In addition to Schwab, Libertas International has a huge team that helps save and support young victims. Angie (left) and Deisi (right) are members of the non-profit organization’s ‘Board of Survivors’.
Both he and Schwab agreed that many of the criminals are white-collar professionals with no criminal records.
“They come here with their money and their white skin and they think they can find the most vulnerable girls in the country and use them as sexual objects,” Aldana said.
Schwab referred to the tourists as “hidden monsters.”
“Many of these people are professional law enforcement officers, teachers, taxi drivers, pharmacists, ex-military, bankers, etc. They have no criminal records here in the US, but when they travel, they become the worst kind of monsters that inflict true horror on vulnerable children around the world,” Schwab said.
Despite the alarming amount of sex trafficking, both Schwab and Aldana are confident that their work will continue to make a difference.
‘We will find you. It’s just a matter of time and now we have strategic partners,” Aldana said.
In addition to them, Libertas International has a large team of people who help rescue helpless girls, including a “Board of Survivors.”
Schwab said once a girl is rescued, she receives continued help and care from Libertas International.
Recently, the Colombian government awarded him the prestigious ‘DIPRO Shield’, the highest honor an American can receive, for his tremendous work.