Daily Press - Trafficking crack downs aided by new laws

News Article

By Travis Fain

Legislation that cleared Congress earlier this month would make it easier for law enforcement to charge people who frequent prostitutes with human trafficking.

The law already allows this, but a broad piece of anti-trafficking legislation sitting now on Pres. Obama's desk clarifies the matter. If a customer knows, or recklessly disregards the fact that a woman has been coerced into a sexual act, he can be brought up on the much more serious charges.

"It's definitely a start in the right direction," said Anton Bell, Hampton's commonwealth's attorney. "You make them equally responsible as those who are transporting."

The bill, s. 178, also includes federal training money to help officers distinguish between willing prostitutes and women forced into the business, Bell said. It includes a new $5,000 fine to help pay for that, and for other anti-trafficking programs, including services for victims.

The bill treats traffickers more like violent criminals than current law, recognizes child pornography as a form of trafficking and makes it easier for law enforcement to seize a violator's assets. The bill is essentially an overhaul of a federal trafficking statute, but it got more attention over things it didn't include.

The bill's senate vote was held up over an argument about abortion funding, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed a confirmation vote on new U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch until the matter was settled. Then the bill passed the Senate unanimously and the House 420-3.

The president is expected to sign it.

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, a member of the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus, said the legislation gives law enforcement new tools and increases resources to help victims recover.

"Human trafficking is not theoretical and it's not just overseas; it's here in our backyard," he said in a statement. "We have a moral obligation not onlye vote was held up over an argument about abortion funding, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed a confirmation vote on new U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch until the matter was settled. Then the bill passed the Senate to end this heinous crime, but to help victims recover."

This federal legislation follows changes approved a few months ago in Virginia law. The state became the last in the union to pass a dedicated human trafficking statute, according to bill sponsors, including Del. David Yancey, R-Newport News.

Both laws should help law enforcement zero in on a business that often crosses jurisdictional lines and almost always operates in the shadows, local prosecutors said. The state law increased penalties and defined the crime, Newport News Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Amy Pyecha said.

Before, prosecutors might charge a trafficker with pandering or abduction. Now "this bill specifically recognizes human trafficking for what it is," she said.

Bell said these cases are fairly rare, but he believes some victims slip through the system unidentified.

Pyecha said trafficking isn't limited to large criminal operations. It can be small time, operated by one person over the Internet. She said trafficking reminds her of the cycle of domestic violence: Men target vulnerable girls, start a relationship and turn them into accomplices.

But the man controls the money, the living space and all too often the drugs, she said. Some times women who've been trafficked themselves become the traffickers, Pyecha said.

"It's easier for them to gain the trust of the other girls," she said.

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