‘The girls are getting younger’: Dunn Lumber owner paints a grim picture of Aurora’s worsening sex trade

While prostitution continues to run rampant along Aurora Avenue in North Seattle, Mike Dunn, owner of Dunn Lumber, posted signage aimed at discouraging the illegal activity.

Speaking on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Dunn provided a firsthand look at what he sees daily on Aurora, and why he believes the sex trafficking is getting worse.

“We’ve been seeing it for 20 years, but it’s definitely getting worse, and I think the girls are getting younger,” Dunn said. “The provocation that they’re using to elicit business is getting greater because they’re under so much pressure to bring in a bunch of cash every day, $1,500 to $3,000 a day. It might be 10 different men, and the pickings can be slim at times, and they’re in deep competition with each other. It’s really hard.”

Dunn says the new signage targets the one thing that deters buyers: the fear of being found out

KIRO host Spike O’Neill noted that the problems became more frequent once many of the “seedy” hotels in the area were shut down in a move by the city to stop the sex trade. This attempt failed because it didn’t get rid of the sex workers or the pimps “shooting up the neighborhoods.”

Spike further explained that roughly four years ago, the city stopped issuing tickets for solicitation and loitering, recording license plates, and sending letters to the homes of those frequenting the area.

Dunn is now working alongside Kristine Moreland, the executive director of The More We Love, to try to put an end to the illegal activity along Aurora by posting signage that may discourage prostitution.

“We’ve worked with The More We Love for a number of years, trying to help get girls off the street and provide funding for her shelter,” Dunn said. “[Moreland’s] the one who came up with a marketing company, DNA Marketing, in order to provide this message. They did a deep study on what actually inhibits men from buying sex, and pretty much, the only thing is the fear of being found out by someone they care about.

“That’s what this whole marketing effort is about,” Dunn continued. “It’s either a quote from a mom who found her son was buying sex, or a quote from a daughter who found out her dad’s buying girls the same age as her. The idea is, ‘Oh my gosh, somebody’s watching me. Maybe I shouldn’t do this.'”

Women are often coerced into the activity before ‘the street eats them up’

KIRO host Jake Skorheim mentioned how he could hear the emotion in Dunn’s voice as he explained the issue, to which Dunn responded with an example that hit home for him.

“It’s terrible. You lock eyes with a girl that you know is 15 or less,” Dunn said. “She’s got this sad face, and she’s half hoping you’re going to solicit her. It’s tragic. I’ve got five granddaughters, ages seven and under, and I just can’t imagine what it’d be like to lose them to something like that.”

Dunn noted that oftentimes the women engaged in prostitution are not consenting to the activity, and before they know it, Aurora “eats them up.”

“It’s so hard to believe that people actually think these girls made a choice to get out there and do this,” he said. “In most cases, they are kidnapped, drugged, beaten up, or brainwashed. By the time they’re on the street, they’re half of what they were, then the street eats them up. I talked to a young lady today, she’s probably, you know, she looked like she was 50 to me, but she’s probably 30, and she’s on the tail end of this life. Her eyes are sunken, and she’s just trying to make enough, I guess, to take away the pain.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3