Sex trafficking is rampant in California. This bill would make it a ‘three-strikes’ crime | Opinion
There is nothing more degrading than human trafficking. Whether for sex or for labor, the practice is motivated by greed and makes a person a virtual slave to another. The emotional and physical toll on the victims of human trafficking can last a lifetime
That is especially true when a young person gets trafficked. Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, whose 12th District includes Clovis and much of Fresno, is sponsoring a bill to make the penalties worse for anyone caught in trafficking minors.
Senate Bill 14 is co-sponsored by Sen. Anna Caballero of Merced and Susan Rubio of East Los Angeles, both Democrats. That the bill is bipartisan in sponsorship is important: Democrats have a supermajority in the Senate and can push GOP-sponsored bills off to the side without a second thought. Getting Democrat support gives a Republican’s bill a fighting chance of consideration.
The Legislature should absolutely take up SB 14, pass it and send it to Gov. Newsom for his signing. It is a common-sense measure that is overdue.
Minors being trafficked
What SB 14 does is make human trafficking of minors punishable as a serious felony. As such, such a crime would fall under California’s Three Strikes Law, making it equal to crimes like murder, arson, rape and carjacking.
The current sentiment in Sacramento is to move away from harsh sentencing and instead favor diversion or rehabilitation of offenders, a point not lost on Grove.
“SB 14 will help strengthen protections for the thousands of minor victims who are sex trafficked and will serve as a deterrent for those who engage in this horrendous crime,” she said in a statement after the bill cleared the Senate Public Safety Committee.
“While I am thankful that my legislation passed out of Senate Public Safety and will protect countless children who are trafficked, I remain committed to continuing to fight for survivors and victims of all ages.”
Lest anyone think it is rare for young people to be trafficked for sex, the sad reality is that it is quite common. The Bee’s series in 2017, “Slaves of the Sex Trade,” reported how authorities have discovered trafficking victims at every high school in Fresno County, and most middle schools.
Girls from dysfunctional homes are often victimized by pimps who promise them a better life, only to trap them into a cycle of economic dependence, substance abuse, violence and sex for money.
Last year Fresno police reported 102 victim referrals and rescues, and made 35 trafficking arrests. The referrals-rescues are for all ages, not just minors.
Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp said that in the past five years, her office has prosecuted 26 defendants “who knowingly sought out minors and intended to or did engage in trafficking them for sexual activity.
“Our youth deserve to be protected from these kinds of heinous crimes and I hope that as SB 14 continues to move through the legislative process, that every elected who has the chance to vote on it, gives it an aye vote.”
Trafficking is statewide problem. Sacramento State’s Institute for Social Research last year found that 13,000 people were victims of sex trafficking in Sacramento County from 2015 to 2020 — more than 11 times the number identified by law enforcement and service providers.
The Public Policy Institute of California notes that sex trafficking makes up most of the human trafficking cases in the state, and that the overwhelming majority of victims identify as female.
Most victims trafficked for sex
Most victims of human trafficking in the Central Valley have been sold for sex, according to a data tracking project by Fresno Pacific University’s Center for Community Transformation.
The organization led a four-year effort to gather information on human trafficking from Merced to Bakersfield. Twenty-three agencies, consisting of police and social service organizations, organized the project when it began in 2019.
Among the key findings from 2022:
▪ The greatest number of victims are those trafficked for sex.
▪ The top industry for trafficking is agriculture, given its dependence on low-wage workers who are often undocumented. The second largest industry category is sex by pimp or other arrangement.
▪ The largest ethnicity of victims is Hispanic. The number of victims whose primary language is Spanish nearly tripled year over year.
▪ Economic need was the primary method of recruiting, followed by “promised job.”
According to Saved In America, a San Diego-based group that helps locate runaways and missing children, a pimp can earn nearly $400,000 a year. Nationally, sex trafficking is the second-largest underground industry, only behind drug trafficking. Sex trafficking generates an estimated $99 billion in revenues a year.
It is a no-brainer to make criminal penalties as harsh as possible for anyone who would capture a child and market her or him for sex. The Legislature should speed SB 14 through the committees and vote in support to give law enforcement a new tool for arresting, convicting and imprisoning anyone who would wreck a young person’s life out of greed.
This story was originally published May 8, 2023 at 5:30 AM.