Last year, 81 girls in SeaTac were arrested for prostitution.

On Oct. 5, nearly 700 people showed up to an event aiming to change that number.

The Genesis Project, a locally-based nonprofit group that aims to provide outreach services to victims of human sex trafficking, held a movie screening and panel discussion at Burien's Criminal Justice Training Center to raise awareness about the rising problem of young women being caught up in the sex trade.

The event opened with a screening of the movie, "The Playground," a documentary that explores the sexual exploitation of children and led into a question and answer session with a panel of nine local experts ranging from community leaders and law enforcement officers.

"Six years ago, when I saw a prostitute, I saw a criminal," said King County Deputy Andy Connor. And then he encountered a 17-year-old girl working the street. Connor asked her how long she had been working in the sex trade.

"Five years," she said. The girl had been working on the streets since she was 12.

Connor was shocked.

"Who put you out here?" he asked.

Her father, she said.

From that day on, Connor no longer saw prostitution as a crime. Instead, he recognized that young women working the streets were victims.

But he was at a loss for what to do about it. There were no resources, no protocol, for how to help these girls escape their lives on the streets. The only option was jail.

He then met Christie Thomas and told her about the problem.

"She was like a forest fire that wouldn't stop," he said.

Thomas got to work a year ago forging partnerships with other outreach services and raising funds. Her ultimate goal is to open a 24-hour drop-in center for young girls, ages 11 to 24, to come in access to food, showers, and medical and mental health services.

Tuesday's event raised about $10,000. Thomas says she still has about $300,000 until she reaches her goal of opening a 24-hour drop-in center.

Members of the human trafficking panel told the audience that Washington state was leading the way at enforcing stricter penalties on pimps and johns rather than criminalizing young women - a significant difference from several years ago.

Law enforcement officers on the panel said pimps can now be sentenced up to eight years in prison; johns are now charged with a felony and two years in jail and must register as a sex offender.

"And it is no longer a defense to say 'I didn't know how old she was,'" said King County Vice Detective Joel Banks.

Other members of the panel at Tuesday's event included representatives from Auburn Youth Resources, STOP Child Trafficking Now, New Horizons Ministries, and 45th Street Youth Clinic.

The event closed out with a story by King County Vice Detective Brian Taylor.

He and his partner had picked up a 17-year-old girl a year ago. Her pimp had also been arrested. The pimp was sentenced to 15-to-life in prison. As for the girl?

"She's in college and working," Taylor said.

To get involved with the Genesis Project or to donate toward building a 24-hour drop-in center, contact executive director Christie Thomas at Christie.genesisproject@gmail.com.