Foster dad cleared by cops after airline staff accuse him of trafficking teen girls
Article content
An American man was cleared of any wrongdoing after he was accused by police of trafficking two young Hispanic girls on a flight to Colorado.
Jim Niven, who lives in Costa Rica, said he was travelling on July 2 with girls he has legal guardianship over to visit his three adult children in Denver — where he is originally from — and to work on the custody process.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Foster dad cleared by cops after airline staff accuse him of trafficking teen girls Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Niven said the two girls — ages 13 and 15 — were born in Colombia and only speak Spanish. They were adopted by a Colorado family and are American citizens. However, the unnamed couple relinquished their guardianship of the girls.
After getting off the plane, Niven said he was met by officers with the Denver Police Department and was told a United Airlines flight attendant had flagged the family and alleged he drugged the girls and was trafficking them.
“They just jumped to conclusions because of ridiculous things,” Niven told the Denver Post. “… This was only because they don’t look like me and they don’t speak English.”
Niven said he translated for the girls during the flight when asked what they wanted to eat and drink. He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary during the trip, he added.
The cops separated Niven from the girls in front of other passengers and asked him if he was trafficking them, Niven said. He showed them the guardianship papers before he was brought to a border patrol office for further questioning.
“The girls were traumatized,” Niven said.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Denver Police said a man was questioned upon arrival in the city July 2 and it was determined he didn’t commit a crime.
“United Airlines personnel suspected human trafficking and referred the travellers to the Denver Police Department, who requested assistance from (U.S. Customs and Border Protection),” a customs spokesperson said in a statement. “CBP takes accusations of human trafficking seriously and officers did their due diligence to question the traveller. The accusations were unfounded.”
A United Airlines spokesperson said the company followed up with the customer to offer an apology.
Niven said he and his wife are working on trying to adopt the girls.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.