Christine Raino, Author at Shared Hope International

September 21, 2015 by Christine Raino

Maricopa County Prosecution Wins Guilty Verdict for Buyer in 20 Minutes

Prosecutors in Phoenix are celebrating a major victory this week after securing a guilty verdict for a man convicted under Arizona’s “child prostitution” law for attempting to buy sex with a law enforcement officer who he believed to be a 16 year old girl. According to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, this is the first jury verdict for this type of operation in Arizona.

The case of Paul Daniel Wagner, which was prosecuted by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will have statewide impact as the jury’s verdict clarifies that trying to buy sex with a minor, or someone posing as a minor, is a serious crime.

As Shared Hope’s Protected Innocence Challenge report card for Arizona shows, Arizona has strong laws to combat demand for commercial sex with minors, a driving force behind the sex trafficking industry. However, bringing buyers to justice is a resource-intensive and challenging task. A primary challenge in combatting demand has been the growth of online exploitation of juvenile sex trafficking victims which allows both traffickers and buyers to remain anonymous and avoid detection by law enforcement.

In recent years, Phoenix-area law enforcement have led efforts to tackle demand through online sting operations and as a result, the area has seen a substantial increase in the identification and arrest of offenders seeking to pay for sex with a minor. When Shared Hope conducted an assessment of Arizona’s response to sex trafficking in 2010, research showed that only five of the 87 cases prosecuted under the “child prostitution” law since 2006 had involved buyers. In contrast, when Shared Hope conducted an assessment of anti-demand enforcement in Arizona in 2015, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office had commenced 89 prosecutions of buyers under the child prostitution law since December 2013.

Nevertheless, prosecution of buyers arrested during sting operations has presented its own set of challenges. In Shared Hope’s 2015 research, Demanding Justice Arizona, online sting operations served as the primary method of identifying buyers in the greater Phoenix region but one of the concerns to this approach was whether judges and juries would treat these cases as seriously as cases involving actual victims—particularly when offenders identified through sting operations were attempting to buy sex with a minor older than 15.

The jury verdict finding Paul Daniel Wagner guilty of a Class 2 felony for attempting to buy sex with a law enforcement officer who he believed to be a 16 year old girl indicates a rising intolerance for this crime. This case reflects the growing understanding that buyers of sex with minors—including those who target older minors—are not just guys who “made a mistake” or were “entrapped” but instead are serious offenders deserving of serious penalties.

Help us shift the stigma. #DemandJustice for buyers at www.demandingjustice.org.

August 10, 2015 by Christine Raino

JuST Response Policy Paper

Eliminating the Third Party Control Barrier to Identifying Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims

This paper evaluates the fundamental importance of defining sex trafficking to include all instances of commercial sexual exploitation of minors. Beyond the question of whether force, fraud or coercion was used by the offender, this discussion addresses the impact of requiring that a third party, in particular a trafficker, has caused a minor victim to engage in commercial sexual activity in order for a minor to be recognized as a sex trafficking victim.

While federal law states that any commercially sexually exploited minor is a victim of sex trafficking, some state statutory schemes mandate identification of a controlling third party or trafficker in order for instances of commercial sexual exploitation of children to be identified as sex trafficking. This means if a buyer directly pays a minor or offers food or shelter in return for sex acts, then this child may not be identified as a victim.

Alternatively, even when a trafficker is involved, if the minor does not identify the trafficker, the exploitation will not be identified as an instance of sex trafficking. This is problematic since victims often deny the extent of their own exploitation and often experience trauma-bonding making it difficult or impossible for children to disclose their trafficker. Instead of being identified and provided protections as a trafficking victim, the child could be prosecuted for prostitution in many jurisdictions.

At its core, requiring the presence of third party control ignores the fact that buyers are committing the very exploitation that the trafficking laws were enacted to punish. Failure to recognize the conduct of buyers as acts of sex trafficking ignores the definition of trafficking.

Policy Paper_Eliminating Third Party Control_Final_Page_01

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JuST Response Council Members

NANCY BALDWIN, HICKEY FAMILY FOUNDATION
LAURA BOYD, FOSTER FAMILY-BASED TREATMENT ASSOCIATION
VEDNITA CARTER, BREAKING FREE
CARLA DARTIS, ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
MELINDA GIOVENGO, YOUTHCARE
LISA GOLDBLATT GRACE, MY LIFE MY CHOICE
YOLANDA GRAHAM, DEVEREUX GEORGIA TREATMENT NETWORK
MICHELLE GUYMAN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT
MARIAN HATCHER, COOK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
STEPHANIE HOLT, MISSION 21
REBECCA JOHNSON, AIM / ENGEDI REFUGEGRETCHEN KERR, NORTHLAND, A COMMUNITY CHURCH
LINDA KRIEG, ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN

ALEXANDRA PIERCE, OTHAYONIH RESEARCH
MARGIE QUIN, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS
DOMINIQUE ROE-SEPOWITZ, SEX TRAFFICKING INTERVENTION RESEARCH OFFICE, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
MALIKA SAADA-SAAR, HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT FOR GIRLS
LINDA SMITH, SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL
CAROL SMOLENSKI, ECPAT-USA
JEN SPRY, PENNSYLVANIA COALITION AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
PEG TALBURTT, LOVELIGHT FOUNDATION

Field Expert Endorsers

Dave McCleary, Rotarians Against Child Slavery
Shea M. Rhodes, Villanova Law School Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Heather Stockdale; Georgia Cares
Justice Bobbe J. Bridge (ret), Center for Children & Youth Justice
Autumn Burris, Survivors for Solutions
Alex Trouteaud, youthSpark
Kate Price, University of Massachusetts Boston

June 25, 2015 by Christine Raino

Open Letter to Hawaii Gov. Ige: Establish State’s First Sex Trafficking Law

Hawaii: last state without a sex trafficking law

Shared Hope International, Family Programs Hawaii, Ho ‘ōla Nā Pua, and IMUAlliance have sent a letter to Hawaii Governor Ige encouraging him to allow the enactment of SB 265, which would be the state’s first sex trafficking law.

Learn More

Proposed Advancements for Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims in Hawaii’s Senate Bill 265 (PDF)

Re: Enactment of Senate Bill 265

Dear Governor Ige:

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to sign SB 265 and enact Hawaii’s first sex trafficking law, a desperately needed piece of legislation. Hawaii is the only state in the nation that does not have a law specifically criminalizing sex trafficking, but this could change with your signature.

Hawaii and Maui County prosecutors and advocates have supported the 2015 state legislature in passing Senate Bill 265. Both the Senate and the House have voted to establish the crime of sex trafficking in Hawaii and strengthen Hawaii’s ability to combat this serious crime. This bill not only renames “promoting prostitution in the first degree” as “sex trafficking” but it makes a significant change to avoid stigmatizing victims and embody a national trend toward protecting rather than blaming victims. The bill also adds tools that aid enforcement and investigation. Contrary to claims by some opponents of the bill, SB 265 accomplishes much more than change “for the sake of change.”

Senate Bill 265 defines the crime of sex trafficking, recognizing that individuals exploited through commercial sex through “force, threat, fraud or intimidation” are victims of sex trafficking. Like 45 other states and the District of Columbia, this bill also criminalizes child sex trafficking regardless of whether any tactics of force, fraud or coercion were used. SB 265 ensures this crime will finally be acknowledged for what it is—sex trafficking—a severe and deeply harmful form of exploitation.

Contrary to claims that the bill would make prosecutions more difficult, the proposed law adds no additional elements of proof for the government to prosecute child sex trafficking cases. Sex trafficking would be a class A felony, the same penalty that currently applies under the promoting prostitution law. In addition, the bill adds a key enforcement tool—wiretapping, which would facilitate investigations of trafficking rings, especially those that operate as highly advanced criminal enterprises.

Moreover, SB 265 broadens victims’ access to justice by allowing anyone who is subjected to sex trafficking to bring lawsuits against their perpetrator(s). This change particularly affects child victims who currently would have to prove or allege coercion in order to pursue civil claims against those who trafficked them.

This bill accomplishes the important goal of clarifying the severity of harms inflicted on sex trafficking victims by correctly identifying the crime of sex trafficking. Language matters. Labeling victims of sex trafficking as prostitutes by criminalizing sex trafficking as an enhanced prostitution offense stigmatizes trafficking victims. Misidentifying sex trafficking as merely a prostitution offense obscures the realities of sex trafficking.

Advocates support enactment of SB 265, not as a formality but as a critical tool to fight against sex trafficking in Hawaii. Establishing a law that specifically criminalizes sex trafficking will serve as a fundamental cornerstone in that fight. Senate Bill 265 will enable Hawaii to more appropriately identify and protect victims, better hold perpetrators accountable, and shift societal norms to better reflect the realities of sex trafficking.

We urge you to sign Senate Bill 265 without delay to advance justice and restoration for victims of sex trafficking in Hawaii.

Sincerely,

Shared Hope International, Family Programs Hawaii, Ho ‘ōla Nā Pua, and IMUAlliance

Call on #Hawaii’s Gov. Ige to sign SB265 into law! Hawaii is ONLY state w/o law criminalizing #sextrafficking! http://t.co/TGn0QNrhfM #HIleg
— SharedHope Int'l (@SharedHope) June 26, 2015

...@GovHawaii - Please sign SB 265 to enact Hawaii’s first law criminalizing sex trafficking! #HI needs a law criminalizing #sextrafficking!
— SharedHope Int'l (@SharedHope) June 26, 2015

February 27, 2015 by Christine Raino

Virginia General Assembly Votes Unanimously to Pass Landmark Legislation that would Establish Virginia’s First Standalone Sex Trafficking Law

Arlington, VA—Today the Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed legislation which would establish Virginia’s first standalone sex trafficking law. Currently, Virginia is the only state in the nation without a human trafficking law. Without a sex trafficking law in place, Virginia law enforcement and prosecutors have had to rely on substitute laws and makeshift strategies to address sex trafficking in Virginia. If enacted, the new law will establish the comprehensive response needed to appropriately respond to this egregious crime by providing stronger penalties for perpetrators and increasing protections for child victims.

This landmark legislative victory was championed by Chief Patron Delegate Timothy Hugo (HB 1964) and Chief Patron Senator Mark Obenshain (SB 1188) and supported by the Kids Are Not For Sale in Virginia Coalition, a collective effort between Virginia law enforcement, prosecutors, advocacy groups, schools, and hospitals to advocate for the passage and enactment of Virginia’s first standalone sex trafficking statute. Nearly 700 Virginia constituents contacted their representatives to voice support for the passage of this crucial legislation.

The six legislators appointed to the Conference Committee, Delegates Hugo, Robert B. Bell, Watts, and Senators Obenshain, Howell, and McDougle, worked hard to retain the protections and penalties from the House bill during the reconciliation of the House and Senate bills so that law enforcement and prosecutors would have the tools they need to combat sex trafficking in Virginia.

This legislation:

Clearly defines and establishes the offense of sex trafficking.
Establishes penalties that reflect the seriousness of the offense.
Specifically criminalizes child sex trafficking as a Class 3 felony without requiring prosecutors prove that force, intimidation or deception was used to cause the minor to engage in commercial sexual conduct given the way the traffickers recruit minors by preying on their vulnerability and trust.
Assists in protecting and properly identifying sex trafficking victims.
Closes a loophole in Virginia’s existing laws by criminalizing the recruitment of minors and adults for commercial sex—conduct which is currently not criminalized in Virginia.

Kids are Not For Sale Coalition Media Contact

Taryn Offenbacher
Director of Communications, Shared Hope International
602-818-3955
Taryn@sharedhope.org

ABOUT THE KIDS ARE NOT FOR SALE IN VA COALTION: The coalition was formed to advocate for the passage and enactment of a sex trafficking statute in Virginia in 2015. Members include: Shared Hope International, Richmond Justice Initiative, Virginia Beach Justice Initiative, Regent School of Law Center for Global Justice, Anastasis International, Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative, Central Virginia Justice Initiative, Courtney’s House, Vessels of Mercy International, The Gray Haven, Virginia Catholic Conference, Bon Secours Virginia Health Systems, Release Me International, Virginia Trucking Association, The Family Foundation, Straight Street, and Youth for Tomorrow.