University officials, police say social media reports of sex traffickers on campus unfounded

Published 10:07 am Thursday, November 7, 2019

Officials from a South Alabama university say they have found no truth to recent social media posts about sex traffickers on its campus.

Posts have been popping up on social media accounts in Troy, Alabama, in recent days claiming that an African American man impersonating a police officer and an Asian woman going around knocking on doors. The posts claim these people are sex traffickers.

Troy University and Troy Police Department officials said they have both received numerous reports related to sex trafficking, but have found no evidence of any of the events occurring.

“Over the last couple of days, there have been several postings on social media about incidents involving persons impersonating police officers and knocking on doors; individuals that are being identified as sex traffickers both on and off campus; and other incidents that would be considered safety concerns for students and the community in general,” said Herb Reeves, dean of student services. “Based on conversations with the campus police and city police, there have been no documented reports of police impersonators or any individuals that have been identified as potential sex traffickers.”

University and police officials are urging anyone with first-hand knowledge of any similar incident to report them immediately to Troy University Police at 334-670-3215 or to Troy Police a 334-566-0500.

“We want to raise awareness and to ask you to be alert at all times to your surroundings and be safety conscience at all times,” Reeves said.
“We also ask your help in reporting things you see or that may occur so we have accurate information that we can disseminate to the campus and community.”