Mark Ives, an anti-pornography activist, speaks at the diocese’s Task Force Against Human Trafficking and Pornography symposium Jan. 25. (Malea Hargett)

Trafficking, pornography: ‘You can’t look at one without the other’

The diocese’s Task Force Against Human Trafficking and Pornography launched its first event with a symposium Jan. 25 at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.

The event attracted 250 people, including priests, deacons and law enforcement agents around the state. The speakers included state and national experts on ending human trafficking, a victim of human trafficking and an anti-pornography advocate.

Lloyd Cambre, past state deputy of the Knights of Columbus, teaches attendees of the Symposium on the Dangers of Human Trafficking and Pornography in Arkansas a hand sign for recognizing a human trafficking victim Jan. 25 in Little Rock. (Malea Hargett)

Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, who is originally from Argentina, spoke briefly about the Church’s stance on human trafficking.

The task force, under the direction of Catholic Charities of Arkansas, was formed in 2024 by Deacon Fred Molina of St. Anne Church in North Little Rock, modeled after the work he did in the Diocese of Orlando. He chaired the task force when it was founded in July but has stepped down to serve as a consultant to the group.

Deacon Fred Molina of St. Anne Church in North Little Rock (left) and Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, stand together during the Jan. 25 Symposium at Christ the King Church in Little Rock. (Malea Hargett)

Mark Ives, a member of Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton and new task force chairman, has spoken out against pornography addiction for the past 11 years and makes books and pamphlets available to parishes around the diocese that are suitable for children, teens and adults.

Ives works with his wife, Mary, to bring awareness of sex trafficking and the dangers of a pornography addiction.

“You can’t look at one without looking at the other,” he said. “That is what our task force is all about. Pornography is probably one of the biggest fuels for human trafficking, and my own personal feeling is if we can’t stop good people from viewing pornography — and these are good people, men, women and children — then we’re not going to be able to stop human trafficking either.”

The task force is concerned with those who became trafficking victims and those who become addicted to pornography.

“We have had a seismic shift in our culture now,” Ives said. “Eighty-eight percent of millennial males and 77 percent of millennial women find pornography not to be problematic. We’ve got to stop that. We’ve got to step in. One of the ways is through awareness.”

Lorrie Stewart, a Benedictine oblate who works at Subiaco Abbey’s Coury House, said she was recruited for sex trafficking after moving to Los Angeles. Beginning when she was 16, she had two abortions, got addicted to drugs and alcohol and served time in prison for drug and weapon offenses. Today, she is sober.

Lorrie Stewart, a Benedictine oblate who works at Subiaco Abbey’s Coury House, said she was recruited for sex trafficking after moving to Los Angeles. She shared her story at the Symposium. (Malea Hargett)

“We all know pornography and sex trafficking go hand in hand, and anyone can become a victim,” she said.

Stewart started watching pornography and looking at nude images in magazines when she was 10 years old.

“I decided to move to Los Angeles to run from the pain,” she said. “I had already been flying out to the Playboy Mansion parties, and I met people and celebrities out there. Hugh Hefner was my first drug dealer in L.A. He gave me two ecstasy pills… I did a photoshoot for the magazine but since I didn’t have sex with Hef, I just got chosen for cyber girl of the month. I never took into consideration that my photos would be online ‘til the end of time.”

Those connections led her to prostitution in 2003, being paid $2,000 an hour.

“Nothing could satisfy me, no drug, no sex, no money, nothing could fill the void of my brokenness and pain,” Stewart said. “I was seeking Jesus Christ; I just didn’t know him yet.”

In 2019, in the McPherson Unit in Newport, Stewart reconnected with her Catholic faith, praying the rosary and attending Mass.

Molina said the high turnout to the symposium shows there is interest in the task force doing more events and ministries in the diocese.

“We want to do support groups who are addicted to porn,” he said. “…We want to start SAT, Students Against Trafficking… We want to introduce these things because there is a need for it. The main purpose of the task force is to pass out information so in this way the innocent and the vulnerable don’t become victims. The longer we wait to introduce these programs, the more people will become victims.”

Malea Hargett

Malea Hargett has guided the diocesan newspaper as editor since 1994. She finds strength in her faith through attending Walking with Purpose Bible studies at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.

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