How Does A Child Predator Become a Child Trafficker?

In the world of child sex offenders, we hear about "child predators" and "child traffickers", but what is the difference?  And how does a child predator become a child trafficker?

A recent news item out of Peoria demonstrates both the difference and connection between child predators and child traffickers.  Alfred Sandoval allegedly met a then 12-year-old girl on the Internet and tried to visit her at her home, but the girl's mother send Sandoval away.  A few months later, after her 13th birthday, the girl phoned Sandoval and asked to see him.  The two had what the news report refers to as "consensual sex", despite the fact that in Illinois, 13-year-old children cannot legally consent to sex with 22-year-old men.

At this point, Sandoval is what we'd call a "child predator"- he met a child on the Internet and sought out sexual contact with that child.  Some child sex offenders focus on finding ways to have sexual contact with children themselves.  Others, like Sandoval, decide to make some money off the child they are abusing and transition to trafficking,

After that they went to Phoenix where he told her how to solicit acts of prostitution which she did on several occasions.

The key difference is the introduction of a commercial element, the exploitation of a person's labor, in this case, the prostitution of the girl.

Criminals like Sandoval who are both child predators and child traffickers, are not uncommon.  However, some predators never introduce a commercial element to become traffickers, and some traffickers never have sex with the children they sell.

Image from abcnews.com