In 1992, prosecutor Frank Williams sentenced a man to death for raping a young girl.
Sherry Kitchens, president of Child Advocacy Center, counseled a 13-year-old girl who ran away from home to work as a stripper in Miami, where she passed for 19 years old.
On Thursday night, as part of Justice Week 2012, Williams and Kitchens participated in a discussion on human trafficking in the Rion Ballroom in the Reitz Union.
The panel was hosted by nonprofit organization FIGHT and Gators for Free the Slaves.
About 170 people attended.
Williams said in 2010 the Child Advocacy Center helped 250,000 children that were sexually abused in the U.S.
"What do those numbers mean to a child that is trafficked and raped?" he asked. "What is an acceptable number before a crisis is a problem? If one child in America is being trafficked, is that okay? The answer is no."
One problem panelists discussed was victims returning to their traffickers after being rescued, said Tyson Elliott, statewide human trafficking coordinator at the Florida Department of Children and Families.
The panel also discussed a lack of resources for fighting child sex trafficking in the state.
Shared Hope International, an organization aimed at eradicating sexual slavery, grades each state's ability to fight child sex trafficking of children with its laws.
Florida received a grade of C.
Food science sophomore Qwamel Hanks, 19, was surprised by the discussion.
"I certainly didn't realize how relevant it was to Americans," she said. "I always thought it was something done in other countries."
Tyson Elliot, state human trafficking coordinator for the Florida Department of Children and Families, speaks Thursday night as part of Justice Week 2012. Read the story at alligator.org.
