Demystifying "The Game"

Wayne Banks, Jr., 28, a third-generation
pimp, is serving 40 years in prison.

"The Game" is a street euphemism for prostitution and pimping, and it's flourishing throughout the United States. Yet, with the arrest and conviction this week of one 28-year old pimp, Wayne Banks Jr., and his historic 40-year sentence, there's evidence that this "game" is no longer being viewed as child's play.

The Toledo Blade, in a series of articles entitled "Lost Youth: The Teenage Sex Trade" reports this week on Banks' conviction, and also delves deep into the life of a pimp (Banks began pimping at 16 years old), revealing the inside workings of this mostly mysterious trade. From the article:

"Born to a father and mother in 'the game,' I wasn't just exposed at an early age, I was conceived in the process of it," Banks said.

"Had it not been for 'the game,' Wayne Robert Banks, Jr. ...wouldn't have been born."

His parents--Wayne Banks, Sr., a self-confessed pimp, and Joyce Tucker, a convicted prostitute--never did serious jail time on sex-trade charges.

Neither did Earl Banks, Sr., [Banks'] grandfather, whose son said he dabbled in pimping.

But the family's third-generation pimp, now 28, is in prison for 40 years.

It's an unprecedented sentence that signals the federal government's new, tougher stance on sex trafficking.

Banks testified in court that many of his prostitutes were well under the age of 18, and many of them he brought into other states to work the streets, qualifying as a federal sex trafficking offense.