Selah Freedom said it pays for victim services and that rehabilitation for one survivor could cost $100,000.
FLORIDA, USA — A young girl is working with victim advocates through the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office after deputies arrested and charged her mother with recording her performing sex acts.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said this year alone, more than 80 people have been booked into the county jail on child pornography charges. One being a mother accused of taking photos and videos of her daughter performing sex acts.
“We’re still trying to figure out if there was any money exchanged or where the money was exchanged, somewhere in the chain of all this,” Sheriff Gualtieri said.
The sheriff said the children involved will never be the same.
“It really has lifelong impacts on the development of an individual as they move forward,” Samantha Kolb with Selah Freedom said.
Kolb is the clinical director at Selah Freedom.
“What works for one youth or person may not work for another. The best option is to have all of them available. That can range from residential homes for youth to outpatient therapy,” Kolb said.
Kolb said it pays for victim services and it can be expensive.
Selah Freedom’s 2024 financial report shows prevention education can cost around a thousand dollars, rehabilitation for one survivor can cost $100,000 and it could cost millions of taxpayer dollars if a trafficking victim doesn’t get help and becomes trapped within the legal system.
Kolb said there is federal aid to cover some of those costs.
“The funds that we secured ten years ago to support this have been decreasing over the last couple of years,” Kolb said.
In 2023, Selah Freedom received nearly $5 million in revenue. In 2024, that fell to around $4.5 million in funding.
Selah Freedom said there is a victim’s compensation fund that victims can apply for, but it does not guarantee that all needs will be covered.