Stephen Patrick O'Meara is trying out retirement for a second time.
He retired 2½ years ago but returned to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office in May 2015 to coordinate the Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force.
Since then, he's worked with a number of state groups to create a plan to end sex trafficking.
O'Meara said he believes trafficking is a larger issue in Nebraska than he initially thought.Ìý
"It's a more significant issue in Nebraska than even those of us who worked on the Omaha Child Exploitation Task Force since January 2010 really understood," he said. "We're talking about what looks like potentially a much higher number of victims."
But O'Meara said he's leaving the task force in good hands -- Glen Parks, who he recommended for the job.
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"Knowing he was the right guy to carry on the work made (retirement) a lot easier of a choice to make," he said.
Parks joined the Attorney General's Office in August and has been assisting O'Meara.
He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law in 2001 and spent nine years in India, fighting sex trafficking as legal director of an anti-human trafficking organization and helping develop a border monitoring strategy for Tiny Hands International, a group working to stop human trafficking across the Nepal-India border.
O'Meara said he'll continue to support the state's effort to eradicate trafficking.Ìý
"There will be things I'll be doing periodically," he said, joking that his wife doesn't believe this will be the last time he retires.