They come to the United States, girls following false promises of real work and the chance for a more robust life. They find servitude, humiliation, danger and hopelessness.

They are the victims of sex trafficking, pulled into the web of prostitution from the East Coast to the West Coast, from Minnesota to the Pacific rim. In Minnesota, most recently, it was a case of alleged human trafficking involving girls of Somali descent.

Charges have been filed against multiple defendants in federal court in Nashville, Tenn., where gang members allegedly took several young girls to work as prostitutes -- in addition to selling them for sex here.

But such cases are becoming ubiquitous. Consider this case recently announced out of Guam:

An owner of a bar there was found guilty of sex trafficking and coercion and enticement for prostitution. His scheme was to force young women and one juvenile girl into prostitution.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the bar owner and others recruited and enticed about nine victims to come to Guam from the island of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. The girls were poor and uneducated, and the bar owner lured them by promising them legitimate employment in a restaurant or store.

As so often happens, he sold them for sex instead ... in the VIP rooms of his "lounge."

The girls had to work in the VIP rooms for 12 to 14 hours a day, with most of their money going to the bar owner and his partners. He held the girls by taking their passports and clothing. He used threats, violence and starvation to force them to prostitute themselves.

What broke the case was the girls' willingness to testify, even against the police officers who patronized the club. The same was true in the Minneapolis case.

If you suspect human trafficking, call the U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement tip line at 1-866-347-2423.

James Walsh • 612-673-7428