Chris: Karen is a reporter for the Wellington Leader. She actually has an Ochiltree County tie, which is a part of her history. She lived in Ochiltree County for a short time as a child.

My attention came to Karen whenever I read an article that she had written and was published, a quest column that was published recently in the Amarillo Globe News on an interesting topic. It’s a stirring topic for sure that got my attention that is of interest and great concern for us who are parents. An article on human trafficking, it was about the potential and they don't know yet why this man recently down in Childress tried to abduct this young girl from a Wal-Mart there. But Karen wrote an article the potential reasoning of cases like that one regarding human trafficking.

I had seen a thing on CNN recently on human trafficking in America and it was brutal and so disturbing. Its just one of those things that just hurts your heart to even think about that it might be a reality in the country. 

The reality is the numbers are much greater than we might think, especially out here in small town America. The topic had caught my attention and was a moving one and so I picked-up the phone in recent days and when I called Karen I really wanted to talk to her primarily about this case in Childress. What she had learned about this attempted abduction and what she has learned in her research about human trafficking.

We're going to talk a little about that this morning. But as I visited with Karen briefly over the phone, I learned that not only does she have the Ochiltree County tie in her history, but a very powerful story, a very powerful story of abuse and neglect and overcoming those challenges in her own life. Karen not only in the writing that she does for the Wellington Leader, but as she publishes articles else where, she is working on a book, and she has a real desire to help others through the telling of her own story.

So ladies and gentlemen, from the Wellington Leader, where she is a reporter, I would like to introduce Karen Hale.

Karen good morning.

Karen: Good morning.

Chris: Thanks for taking a few minutes for us, I appreciate it.

How long have you been a reporter for the Wellington Leader?

Karen: Approximately three years.

Chris: And how did you get into that business?

Karen: By luck. Actually, it was the grace of God.

Chris: Tell me a little bit on how that happened? Did you have aspiration of being a writer, or did you stumble into it as a job and become a writer?

Karen: I've always had the need to share my story with others and write, but I've never been to college. I began writing my book and doing research on it back in 1999. On two separate occasions I gave some of my work to the paper and after the last submission, I was offered a job.

Chris: And you were living in Wellington?

Karen: Yes sir.

Chris: What took you to Wellington? Do you have family connections there?

Karen: I have family connections to Childress. Once my parents were incarcerated, this is where we came back to, our family home base.

Chris: Tell me a bit about your childhood story Karen. You have been a survivor of abuse and neglect. When did it begin in your life and how?

Karen: My biological father was an alcoholic and he abused me from an early age, until my mother and I left when I was five. Following, my mother remarried when I was approximately six or seven years old. I was not abused physically at that point, but it was mentally.

We basically lived a transient life style of and on for three years, traveling the country side, living homeless, living of the land. We would hitch-hike to and from different places.

Chris: So your parents would take you and hitch-hike with you, walking along side.

Karen: Yes sir. Honestly I would be the tale end, I was the sympathy. They wanted me to come up the tale end so I would be seen by everyone first. 
 

Chris: Was you the only child?

Karen: Yes sir. I am an only child.

Chris: Tell me about your step-father and who your mother had married.

Karen: My step-father was Camron Harold Frysinger and he is from Oklahoma I believe. He was a very nice man and in the beginning I was very pleased to have a father again and I really thought things were going to go well. But as circumstances showed me along the way, it just wasn't so. 

Chris: How old were you at that time?

Karen: All of this I believe happened between the age of seven and eleven.

Chris: When did abuse begin with your new step-father at that age?

Karen: The mental abuse, probably I would say within six months to a year.  

Chris: What kind of mental abuse?

Karen: From having to go out in the yard and having to pick-up pebbles when the whole entire yard is pebbles, that’s mental abuse. Its things like that. Not being taken care of, never having clothes, never having food and such, it all takes a toll. It's very heart wrenching for a child.

Chris: It was just overall neglect...They weren't taking care of you.

Karen: It was overall neglect completely.

Chris: What do you mean about picking pebbles up in the yard?

Karen: Well, one time it was just a form of my punishment. I don't remember what I did, I probably sassed or didn't say what he wanted to hear, I was told to go out and pick pebbles up out of the yard. Well, we had a gravel drive way, so it was impossible.

Chris: What is the history of your mother? Did she come from an abusive back ground as well?

Karen: Not to my knowledge. There is some questioning there. But a lot of the family members will not relate any information to me because I have tried to find out and no one will really tell me anything.

Chris: How long were you with your mother and at that time, your step-father and go hitch-hiking across the country?

Karen: Until the crime that brought us to a stopping point. We were picked-up the day before my