In Our Backyard by Nita Belles

Author:Nita Belles [Belles, Nita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SOC059000
ISBN: 9781441248589
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-28T04:00:00+00:00

Hindered by the Social Services Designed to Help

Tiffany’s mom went to battle for her daughter. She reported what she knew about Pairadice, hoping to prompt his arrest and Tiffany’s subsequent release from his grasp.9 When the authorities did nothing, Lori’s hands were tied. “I was homeless, not on drugs. They took away my parental rights and then didn’t take responsibility for my kids,” says Lori.10 “I wasn’t a good mother. But if you’re going to take my kids, then protect them.”11

A few months later, Pairadice was arrested and Tiffany chose to move back with her mother illegally rather than stay in a group home. But that didn’t last long. The twisted, addictive lure of “the life” is strong once a girl has been seasoned and turned out as a sex slave. It is nigh to impossible to explain that unreasonable and insatiable pull, but Tiffany continued to go back, as the majority of girls do. When she was picked up by law enforcement for prostitution, the authorities insisted she be put back in the group home even though they should have suspected she wouldn’t stay.

“The [social services] system sets up a girl to go AWOL,” Laurel Freeman, a counselor at the Youth Guidance Center, told Examiner staff reporter Adrienne Sanders, author of a five-part series titled “Poster Child for Broken Promises.” “[The girl] has suffered trauma on the streets. She has a pimp hanging over her. It’s easier for them to stick her in a group home—even when they know she’s going to run—than it is to come up with something different. It’s like a tar pit, miring the girls farther down.”12

Pairadice knew exactly what to do to maintain his hold on Tiffany. Although she wanted to go back to school, he kept pimping her. He even picked her up in front of Francisco Middle School and later Mission High School, as well as two group homes and the DHS shelter.13 It was as if the system allowed pimps like Pairadice the same access as a responsible family member.

He also kept Tiffany away from people who would try to help her break free from the life, and he even threatened to kill one shop owner who tried to help her by occasionally buying her a meal or allowing her to sleep on his couch.14

Pairadice let Tiffany know who was boss. He pulled her hair often—one time even dragging her down the street by her hair. He strangled her. A second pimp called Bautiese “B. Rich” Richardson, a self-proclaimed “super pimp” well known for pimping young girls like Tiffany, pimped her as well. Amazingly, both men had worked in city youth programs as mentors. B. Rich was also known for his violence against the girls he pimped. After beatings he would tell the girls, “I’m sorry, you know I don’t like to hit you.” They were made to feel like it was their fault that B. Rich “had” to hit them.15

It is not known how, why, or exactly when Tiffany was

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