We did this series because we had a responsibility to put into perspective something insidious that was happening in the neighborhoods of Iowa towns whose residents have an expectation of safety and normal decency. We did the series as a narrative so that we could tell the details in a compelling, digestible way rather than in a special section or large one-day story that readers could blow off as being too much to read. Here's how the idea started:

The Gazette had been publishing stories, some big, some small, but all straightforward crime and court reports, stemming from a prostitution ring involving a 13-year-old kidnapped girl that was flourishing in Eastern Iowa in late 2004 and early 2005. The stories seemed too bizarre because they involved a prostitution business running out of what appeared to be more than one small Iowa town and they involved human trafficking.

A reporter I oversaw at the time, Zack Kucharski, (I handle The Gazette's Iowa City newsroom; our main newsroom is in Cedar Rapids) covered some of these stories and commented to me one day in fall 2006 that so many people in so many locations were in this mess that the cops still hadn’t figured out what happened or who was involved.

I suggested to him that a powerful story could be told if we could unravel all of this in print sometime and tell people how on earth a prostitution ring involving kidnapped teenagers could flourish in Eastern Iowa towns of 1,000 or fewer people. I suggested to Zack that this story would have so many twists that it may be the perfect narrative series candidate: It seemed to have small stories within a large story and details that would interest readers but be left out of a one-day or three-part story written in usual straight-up, hard-news prose. Zack started talking with law enforcement officials and poring through court records to identify the main players and their court cases.

The Gazette moved Zack into a new position as online database manager ... I hired Jennifer, whom I had known for a while, and turned the assignment over to her, with Zack as a resource. At the time we figured stories would have double bylines. As it turned out, Jennifer pulled in the bulk of the reporting (and all of the key reporting) and Zack was good with his role of finding data and information and sending it her way. We pulled photographer Brian Ray into the story as well last year for the storytelling he brought in his photos.

It is worth noting that finding time for this project required juggling and discipline. Jennifer did this project while covering daily duties ranging from mundane musts such as the cops log and court briefs to, in the last month of prepping the story, a multiple murder and suicide. I gave Jennifer one day a week -- Wednesday -- to work exclusively on this project over the winter. Additionally, when Jennifer scored an interview for the project we tried to give that priority during her other days at work. A given was that any time Betty Thompson, Kevin Kinney or M.B. wanted to talk, Jennifer could drop all else. Jennifer can tell you how she got those interviews -- it was great work.

As we drew close to when we wanted to run the series, which was before school ended and people shifted from wanting to read a newspaper to being outside, I gave Jennifer a week off to simply write. The rule was she could call me; I couldn't call her. I think I only violated that rule once. Jennifer likely knows the truth. More days off were built into her schedule for rewriting.