GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Deputies are finding more human trafficking victims in Kent County this year.

Last year, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department’s human trafficking unit discovered 60 actual or likely victims. This year, detectives have already found more than 90 human trafficking victims. They are on pace to reach about 120 victims by the end of the year, according to Lt. Eric Brunner, who oversees the unit.

The team has three full-time detectives who investigate sex and labor trafficking. Brunner said having a dedicated team, which is rare in West Michigan, may be why they’re finding more victims.

“I think it’s more being just discovered,” he said. “As we’ve continued to add staff toward human trafficking in general, we’re seeing these numbers just grow.”

Brunner was among several advocates and survivors who spoke at the Salvation Army’s KROC Center in southeast Grand Rapids Wednesday afternoon about the issue.

Leslie King was one of those survivors. When she was only 15, she was coerced into prostitution and drug addiction.

King was trafficked for over 20 years. She said she often suffered beatings, coercion and threats.

“You’re too scared to leave,” she said.

She finally broke free in 2000. In the years since, she’s helped those going through the same horrors she did. She founded and became the president of Sacred Beginnings, which provides two homes for women who have been trafficked and are trying to escape.

“We teach them how to live again, matter of fact, how to live period,” she said.

The panel on Wednesday emphasized that this problem is real and it’s happening in our neighborhoods.

“From Cedar Springs to Byron Center to Cutlerville and Ada, this is not just an isolated problem,” Brunner said. “This is all across our community.”

Brunner said more than half the victims they’re finding in Kent County are girls ages 17 and younger.

“There are teenage girls being taken advantage of, mostly online, mostly on Instagram,” Brunner said.

The sheriff’s office and Safe Haven Ministries, which supports survivors, are getting help from the federal government. Last week, the group learned it received a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the Office for Victims Crime to support their mission in stopping abusers and supporting survivors. The funding must still be approved by the Kent County Board of Commissioners.

King says more institutions need to come together to fight this head-on.

“We’re stronger in numbers because I can guarantee you, traffickers come together,” she said. “They come together. So why can’t we come together?”