A Wyoming man is on a mission to help save Colombian girls who are victims of sex trafficking.
Tyler Schwab was introduced to sex trafficking while serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dominican Republic.
He started noticing a lot of young girls with older men, but didn’t really pay attention to them until he took a seminar on human trafficking at UT State University. Utah.
“It was an injustice that I couldn’t ignore,” Schwab told Cowboy State Daily.
In 2014, he launched the nonprofit Libertas International, which has helped save more than 3,000 girls from pedophile tourists in Colombia.
In 2014, Tyler Schwab launched the nonprofit Libertas International, which has helped save more than 3,000 girls from the clutches of pedophile tourists in Colombia.
“There were children, especially young girls, who were reporting that they had been mistreated by American tourists,” Schwab said. (pictured: him hugging a young girl he helped save)
“Colombia is a very beautiful country for tourists, but over time we have seen an influx of sex tourism, especially after the pandemic,” Schwab said.
“There were children, especially young girls, who reported that they had been mistreated by American tourists.”
Major Johan Aldana of the Colombian National Police told Cowboy State Daily that sex tourism is on the rise in cities like Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and the county capital, Bogotá.
In 2023, there were 1,259 possible cases of sexual exploitation of minors in Bogotá, Colombia, 60% more than the previous year, the Associated Press reported.
Around 1.4 million tourists visited the country last year, as crime and violence declined thanks to the leadership of the notorious Pablo Escobar.
Many of these tourists were American, and although Escobar has been dead for more than three decades, the culture of prostitution that he normalized persists in the country.
In January, a 19-month-old girl was rescued by Schwab and his team after a former NYPD officer, Agmad Beharry, 46, sexually exploited her.
The little girl is the youngest survivor saved by the association.
“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 U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
After his arrest, Beharry, assigned to the NYPD’s terrorist unit, was suspended without pay and charged by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography .
On April 3, Federico Gutiérrez, the mayor of Medellín, implemented a temporary ban on prostitution after an American was found with two Colombian teenagers aged 12 and 13.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has also become involved in the fight against prostitution in the country.
In January, a 19-month-old girl was rescued by Schwab and his team after former NYPD officer Agmad Beharry, 46, sexually exploited her.
After his arrest, Beharry, assigned to the New York Police Department’s terrorist unit, was suspended without pay and charged by 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, as Liberates International, Colombian law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security worked together to eliminate more American sex tourists. (photo: Schwab with another young survivor)
A young girl, who goes by the name Milagros, was recently caught up in a sex trafficking case, and thanks to the help of Schwab and her nonprofit, she was able to get the help she needed.
A police officer gave her Schwab’s information in a written note after she and three other women were violently attacked by an American man.
With his support, Milagros testified at his attacker’s trial in U.S. federal court in May 2023.
She is currently studying to become a social worker and runs a small business from home. She dreams of one day working for a non-profit organization.
Michael Roberts, 41, a Texas teacher who worked at an all-girls school, was later charged with unlawful sexual abuse of minors and sentenced to seven years in US federal prison.
Last year, Operation Archangel was launched, as Liberates International, Colombian law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security worked together to eliminate more American sex tourists.
Since the start of the operation, more than a dozen men have been arrested and 30 cases are still ongoing.
Last week, a Miami pharmacist was arrested at an airport while trying to board a flight to Bogotá to have sex with minors aged 10 and 12.
In exchange for $300,000 in Colombian pesos, or about $77 U.S. dollars, the man abused children and promised them iPhones if they “didn’t cry.”
Another predator, MMA fighter Jaymes Schulte, was also arrested and charged in November on suspicion of sex trafficking and distributing illegal videos involving victims as young as 13.
Worse still, many girls are exploited by family members in exchange for money, Aldana said.
“From a professional point of view, I’ve worked on organized crime and drugs, but sexual exploitation is such a different animal because it’s real people,” he said.
“These are girls who have had horrible lives and they are innocent victims who are being exploited.”
Schwab said once a girl is rescued, she receives ongoing help and care from Libertas International.
In addition to Schwab, Libertas International has a huge team helping rescue and support young victims. Angie (left) and Deisi (right) are members of the nonprofit’s Survivor Board.
He and Schwab both agree that most offenders are white-collar workers with no criminal records.
“They come here with their money and their white skin and believe they can find the most vulnerable girls in the country and use them as sex objects,” Aldana said.
Schwab called tourists “hidden monsters.”
“Many of these people are law enforcement professionals, teachers, taxi drivers, pharmacists, ex-military, bankers, etc. They have no criminal records here in the United States, but when they travel, they transform into the worst kind of monsters that inflict real horror on vulnerable children around the world,” Schwab said.
Despite the alarming scale of sex trafficking, Schwab and Aldana are confident 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 in place,” Aldana said.
In addition to them, Libertas International has a large team of people who help rescue helpless girls, including a “Survivors Council.”
Schwab said once a girl is rescued, she receives ongoing help and care from Libertas International.
He recently received the prestigious “DIPRO Shield,” the highest honor an American can receive, from the Colombian government for his tremendous work.
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