Stephen Patrick O’Meara is the newest staff member of the Nebraska Attorney General’s office. Serving as the Human Trafficking Coordinator, Stephen is the point person for the Attorney General in the development and implementation of a statewide strategic plan to combat human trafficking, including enforcement, victim services and public awareness. In addition, he will participate in the investigation and prosecution of state or federal human trafficking cases.
In recent years, O’Meara has been actively engaged in the anti-human trafficking movement in both Nebraska and Iowa, working with many organizations including: the Omaha Child Exploitation Task Force, the Coalition on Human Trafficking (Omaha), Nebraska Against Human Trafficking (Omaha), the Iowa Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Investigation & Prosecution Initiative, the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking, the Central Iowa Services Network Against Human Trafficking, Braking Traffic (Quad Cities, Iowa-Illinois), and the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking (Tri-state area of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota).
As Human Trafficking Coordinator for the Nebraska Department of Justice, O’Meara is developing and implementing a statewide victim-oriented plan to integrate enforcement, victim services, and awareness/education. He will work closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement, and with victim services organizations to establish a multi-disciplinary human trafficking enforcement network.
In part, the Attorney General’s enforcement plan will address the identification, organization, and training of persons involved in enforcement, collateral professions and industries most likely to encounter human trafficking and public awareness.
O’Meara is a graduate of the Creighton University School of Law and has been practicing law for 42 years. He has worked in western Iowa, Des Moines and Omaha in private practice; served as an Assistant Iowa Attorney General; served as a rural county attorney for 10 years; and for 25 years, until July of 2014, served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Nebraska and Iowa.
While a county attorney, Stephen was awarded the National Association of Social Workers Iowa Citizen of the Year Award for his work in establishing one of Iowa’s first multi-disciplinary child abuse task forces. While an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska, he was awarded a United States Department of Justice Outstanding Service Award for the investigation and prosecution of gang, drug and violent crime cases. While serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in Iowa, he was awarded an Outstanding Service Certificate from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in recognition of his success in the prosecution of cases from the FBI-led “Irish Rose” Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force from 1994-1998.
