Medical expert shares warning signs of human trafficking following trafficking arrests in Orangeburg County

BOWMAN, S.C. (WIS) - A human trafficking case involving one of its residents is shaking up the small town of Bowman in Orangeburg County.

On the day that the state released its 2022 Human Trafficking Task Force Annual Report, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced the arrests of Alana Westbury and John Williams for human trafficking.

RELATED STORY: SLED charges two in human trafficking case in Orangeburg County

Westbury, of Bowman, and Williams, of Orangeburg, are each charged with trafficking a victim under 18 years old.

Williams also faces a charge of criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11, and Westbury faces three counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.

Arrest warrants accuse Williams of soliciting the victim for “commercial sex acts,” and allege that Westbury received money from Williams for these acts, either directly or indirectly.

Meagan Cobb, who knew Westbury when she was a teenager, said she is shocked.

“I’m just floored by what I’m finding out,” she said. “I would think that if I were capable of doing something like she was doing, that I would probably not even be on social media. I would just be laying low and not bringing any attention to myself whatsoever.”

Cobb never would have imagined that Westbury could be capable of something like that, given the “front” that she put up on social media.

She added that these arrests should serve as a reminder for all parents to be mindful of a child’s comfort level around adults in general.

“Protect your kids,” Cobb said. “Let them live their life, but be very vigilant and understanding that this is right in our backyards now. And it always has been, but it takes voices, and it takes people coming out of these small towns to speak up on it because it’s right here.”

Cobb said that it is never too early to have a conversation with children about inappropriate touching.

Warrants allege that Westbury and Williams were involved in trafficking from May until December of 2022, highlighting Attorney General Alan Wilson’s point that these crimes are happening across the state, even in rural towns like Bowman, with a population of about a thousand people.

Shannon Vincent with is a forensic nurse practitioner with Prisma Health Midlands.

As part of a team of sexual assault nurse practitioners (or SANE nurses), she treats patients that have been sexually abused or trafficked.

Vincent said it is important to that abuse can happen at any age, and warning signs are often simpler than one may think.

“Do they seem scared, do they seem frightened?” she said. “Do they not talk? And that is something when you think, well maybe they’re just a little shy. Well, if you’re trying to have a conversation with them, just even basic kinds of things and they’re not talking to you but they keep looking at the person that they’re with. Maybe they’re not allowed to go anywhere alone or by themselves. They always have to have somebody with them all the time. The other person speaks for them constantly, will not even allow them to answer any simple questions.”

Another warning sign that someone may be a victim of trafficking, according to Vincent, is that he or she will not carry identification.

One important question to ask, Vincent said, is “Where are you?”

If the person is unable to answer, that is a sign that he or she could be a trafficking victim.

In addition to providing medical assistance, SANE nurses also work to provide safety planning for victims.

They collaborate with various agencies and human trafficking shelters.

“What kind of services do they need?” Vincent said. “We try to coordinate all of that care for them so that way when they leave the emergency room, they’re not sent just kind of hanging out there in the ether wondering what’s next? They know what’s coming next. We kind of try to put them into the hands of the next person.”

SANE nurses also sit on the state’s human trafficking task force.

While not every hospital in South Carolina currently has a nurse who treats patients that have been trafficked, the goal is to expand this network of nurses so that all patients have the availability to see one if needed.

SLED said it could not provide any comment on this case Tuesday as the investigation is ongoing.

However, a spokesperson said that anyone with information about the case, or about any criminal behavior involving Westbury or Williams, is urged to the agency directly.

That number is 803-896-5591.

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