The following article titled “GOP Senator: AZ Foster Kids Are Being Sold Into Sexual Slavery” was written by Jim Small and published for the Arizona Mirror on October 4, 2019. It’s length and content have been edited to share on Saving Grace Advocates‘ blog.
A conservative Republican senator who is convinced that the Arizona Department of Child Safety is facilitating the global sex trafficking of children removed from negligent parents called the police on one of his GOP colleagues, alleging that she threatened his life.
Sen. David Farnsworth filed a report with the Arizona Department of Public Safety this week. In it, he accused Sen. Kate Brophy McGee of threatening him if he didn’t stop his investigations. The news was first reported by Yellow Sheet Report, an insider newsletter aimed at lobbyists and government officials.
Children “Lost” to Sex Trafficking
Farnsworth told Yellow Sheet that he has been looking into how DCS “lost” more than 550 children last year. Roughly half of these children are categorized as missing runaways. The rest appear to be flagged for paperwork errors.
He said he fears the children have been abducted and sold into a global sex trafficking ring. Additionally, he said he’s been holding meetings with various organizations and individuals. These include DCS, critics of the agency, and fellow lawmakers including Brophy McGee.
Farnsworth acknowledged his beliefs were outlandish, but he said it’s not a conspiracy theory. He told Yellow Sheet that he didn’t believe DCS officials were actively selling children into sexual slavery. However, he feels they are being lax at protecting children from predators who will.
While he hopes his meetings ultimately prove him wrong, Farnsworth said he is more convinced than ever. He believes Arizona children are being needlessly removed from their parents. Then, those put into group homes or foster homes are being sex-trafficked. At this point, he told Yellow Sheet he has turned up no evidence.
“When I first heard about this, I believed that children from Arizona (DCS) were ending up in sex trafficking. Now, after the research I’ve done, I’m confident of it,” he told Yellow Sheet. “But I can’t prove it.”
Additional Sex Trafficking Allegations
Farnsworth also alleged that two former Republican state senators from other states who were killed within days of each other earlier this year were “executed” because they were investigating links between their own states’ child protective agencies and global sex trafficking rings.
There is no evidence that either ex-legislator was murdered for that reason. Linda Collins-Smith, a former senator from Arkansas, was killed by a close friend and former campaign aide. And Jonathan Nichols, a former senator from Oklahoma, died by suicide.
The dispute between Farnsworth and Brophy McGee stems from what she said in a conversation. Apparently, she told her colleague that both she and her husband were concerned for her safety. This came after Farnsworth’s allies in the child-sex-ring investigation began harassing her.
Additionally, they began spreading rumors that she and others are involved in child kidnapping schemes. Brophy McGee told the insider publication that Farnsworth’s compatriots are “unbalanced” and have forced her to have Senate security guards escort her to and from meetings about DCS, but Farnsworth has been unconcerned.
Farnsworth told Yellow Sheet that, while he initially didn’t take Brophy McGee’s comments seriously, he decided to file a complaint with DPS because the “best deterrent to a threat is for more people to be aware of it.”