Ted Poe Archives - Shared Hope International

September 16, 2013 by SHI Staff

Buyer Beware: Legislators Tighten Laws to Target Buyers

Rep. Judge Ted Poe and Senator John Cornyn cross-filed the End Sex Trafficking Act of 2013 on July 24, 2013. The bill has the purpose of clarifying the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and its criminal provision, 18 USC 1591, to include actions by buyers – through the verbs “patronizes or solicits” – as offenses of sex trafficking.

Pending federal court cases in South Dakota ended with the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued in January 2013 holding that the plain language of 18 USC 1591 includes the actions of buyers through the terms “entices” and “obtains” primarily. Nonetheless, concern remained that the federal law was not sufficiently clear in its intent to include ALL of the actors in the crime of sex trafficking, including buyers. Federal legislators intend to clarify without a doubt that the actions of buyers – demand – is part of the trafficking crime.

This amendment is the product of years of advocacy by Shared Hope and our anti-demand colleagues. Recently, Shared Hope International’s senior policy director Samantha Healy Vardaman and policy counsel Christine Raino authored a law review article published in the University of Memphis Law Review Summer 2013 publication titled Prosecuting Demand as a Crime of Human Trafficking: The Eighth Circuit Decision in United States Vs. Jungers.

The article presents “the case that buyers and attempted buyers of commercial sex acts with minors—including prostitution, pornography, and sexual performance—engage in trafficking activities essential to the crime of trafficking. The Eighth Circuit decision in the Bonestroo and Jungers cases will greatly bolster the ability of prosecutors and law enforcement to combat and deter sex trafficking of minors in America.”

Shared Hope has been undertaking the Demanding Justice Project to emphasize the need for legislation and prosecution that target buyers of sex with children. This research addresses states’ enforcement of laws analyzed under the demand component of the Protected Innocence Challenge. Phase one of the project – a national desk review of buyer cases identified and tracked through the court process – will be featured at Sharing the Hope 2013. The Pathbreaker Awards Gala will also be featured at the event. This year’s Pathbreaker Award recipients are those who have developed innovative strategies to combat demand: Vednita Carter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Cordes, and Rep. Ted Poe.

To read Rep. Poe and Sentor Cornyn’s End Sex Trafficking Act of 2013, follow the links below.

View the House Bill.

View the Senate Bill.

September 22, 2010 by Guest

Hearing on the Hill: Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking

“These are our daughters, these are our children,” and “This is a human tragedy.”

Those words were spoken by members of Congress last week as they spoke about domestic minor sex trafficking at a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill. This hearing, held September 15 by the House Judiciary Sub-Committee on Crime and chaired by Representative Bobby Scott ( D-VA ), was to get input on The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims support Act of 2010 (H.R. 5575). The house legislation is a companion bill to Senate bill (S.R. 2925) introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and John Cornyn (R-TX).

The hearing was well-attended, with an estimated 75 people in the main hearing room, and several more listening from a remote viewing room. Shared Hope International’s Founder Linda Smith spoke on the first of three panels, along with House Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Ted Poe(R-TX), and Chris Smith (R-NJ).

Congresswoman Maloney, who introduced H.R. 5575 with Representative Chris Smith, said that sex trafficking is the slavery of the 21^st century, and unlike drugs or guns which are only sold once, children’s bodies can be sold over and over again. Maloney cited statistics: the average child is between 12-13 years of age when they are first sexually exploited; that the U.S. spends less on domestic victims than on overseas victims; and noted that there are less than 50 beds nationally for victims, which she deemed “totally unacceptable.”

Congresswoman Jackie Speier called domestic minor sex trafficking a human tragedy. Her remarks focused on the impact of the Internet, a theme that was picked up and reinforced by later panelists. Speier noted that Craigslist had over 2.2 million posts last year in the adult services section and she called for tougher prosecution of those who sell and buy child sex services.

This theme for tougher enforcement was emphasized by Representative Ted Poe, in his call for tougher prosecution of those who sell children for sex. Representative Chris Smith spoke about how important it is to take action and provide victims with services rather then arrest them as criminals. He explained how H.R. 5575 starts to address the need, by providing block grants so communities can provide support to victims.

Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International and former Congresswoman, shared the story of a victim she had recently helped. Smith also addressed the demand side of the business – calling for tougher prosecution of the men who buy sex to deter demand for sex services from children.

Later discussion in the afternoon intensified as more panelists testified. SHI partner Tina Frundt of Courtney’s House spoke movingly about her experiences as a survivor of domestic minor sex trafficking and reinforced the need for more support for victims. Francey Hakes, DOJ’s National Coordinator on Child Sexual Exploitation and Interdiction, introduced DOJ’s report on DMST and was questioned by lawmakers about the low number of indictments.

The most intense exchanges came when representatives of Craigslist testified. Craigslist recently shut down the adult services section of their Web site and company representative, William Powell, Director of Customer

Service and Law Enforcement Relations, testified along with Craigslist counsel Elizabeth McDougall. Craigslist representatives said the closing of the adult section could be viewed as a step backward, since Craigslist collaborated with law enforcement and aided in capturing traffickers via that section of the Web site. They pointed out that venues like Backpage.com may not collaborate as efficiently with law enforcement to help build cases against traffickers selling minors for sex online.

Powell told the committee the company will not reopen the adult services section but he also said, under questioning from Chairman Scott, that all the international segments of Craigslist continue to have adult services sections.

Last week’s hearing showed that progress has been made. There are some powerful champions in Congress who are taking steps to address domestic minor sex trafficking. But there are several who have yet to sign on to the House and Senate bills. We urge you to contact your elected representatives today to encourage them to do so!

September 20, 2010 by Guest

Congress Opens Its Eyes to the Reality of DMST

On September 15, 2010, the culmination of many voices and a powerful idea finally found its way into the halls of the illustrious Rayburn Building. With a knock of the gavel, Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) began his introduction, “Subcommittee will now come to order, and I am pleased to welcome you [to]…today’s hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The committee is hearing Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking and specifically, H.R. 5575-Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010.”

This bill, sister to the Senate bill (S. 2925), was introduced by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Christopher Smith (R-NJ) in June and has collected 24 co-sponsors. Despite the pending Congressional votes that day and the haste of a short session, the room was filled to capacity with listeners awaiting the testimonies of the two distinguished witness panels. Spectators even filtered into an overflow room to view the hearing via satellite; while, the most notable media in attendance included: CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN (Full Video Coverage) Washington Post, Christian Broadcast News, Al Jezeera, and Change.org

Though not every member of the Subcommittee was able to attend, Chairman Scott was joined by Ranking Member Gohmert (R-TX), Rep. Lungren (R-CA), Rep. Jackson-Lee (D-TX), and Rep. Poe (R-TX) for the hearing.

The first panel was comprised of five members, including our very own founder and President, former Congresswoman Linda Smith:

Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (R-NY)
Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA)
Representative Ted Poe (R-TX)
Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ)

The second witness panel included law enforcement, NGO representatives, a survivor, and an employee of Craigslist/ their attorney:

Ms. Francey Hakes, National Coordinator for Child, Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, US Dept. of Justice
Mr. Nicholas Sensley, Chief of Police, Truckee Police Dept., Truckee CA
Mr. Ernie Allen, President & CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Ms. Tina Frundt, Partner to SHI and Survivor and Executive Director/Founder, Courtney’s House
Ms. Suzanna Tiapula, Director of National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse of the National District Attorneys Association
Ms. Deborah Richardson, Chief Program Officer of Women’s Funding Network
Mr. William “Clint” Powell, Director of Customer Service/Law Enforcement Relations, Craigslist, Inc.
Ms. Elizabeth “Liz” McDougall, Partner at Perkins Coie, LLP, Craigslist, Inc. Representation

It is not often that so many organizations come together to give testimony for a single bill, and in light of the recent Craigslist allegations related to fostering minor sex trafficking via the Adult Services section on the company’s Web site, urgency for passage of the bill was unmistakable. H.R. 5575 authorizes the US Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs to allocate six, one-year block grants of $2.5 million to create a victim-centered approach in addressing the sex-trafficking of minors. This includes placing a heavier focus on the necessity for proper shelters and services for victims, providing funding to improve resources for law enforcement agencies, such as the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system of tracking data of missing and exploited children, and creating treatment programs in lieu of incarceration for those charged with solicitation of prostituted children. The bill also addresses deterrence tactics to prevent men from buying young girls for sex, including $2500 fees, vehicle impoundment, etc.

Panel One:

After brief introductory statements and comments from the members of the Subcommittee, the first round of testimony began with Rep. Carolyn Maloney poignantly describing the institution of sex trafficking as the recycling of human beings. The position and mindset of the Congressional panel was emulated by Rep. Ted Poe who recalled being told to “get a rope,” when he was serving as judge in Texas, to address perpetrators of sex exploitation.

Congressman Christopher Smith echoed the need for reformation by declaring this issue a huge and escalating crisis. He commended Rep. Speier for asserting that we need to do what the bill has outlined and expand on it ten-fold.

Former Congresswoman Linda Smith brought the first panel testimonies to a close by screening a short victim testimony video and giving a voice to the voiceless; she called her“Lacy”. Linda Smith discussed the issue of DEMAND for younger and younger victims as the driving force of this market. She implored the committee to understand that those who buy sex from innocent children should receive the full penalty under the law.

Panel Two & Questioning:

The main focus of the second panel was a reiteration of the need for resources, a reverberating sound of how prolific the use of the Internet to exploit children has grown (and not just on Craigslist) and the need for law enforcement to use this same technology to combat it. Rep. Poe said he wanted to the see the pictures of every buyer posted online and done more fervently than the traffickers post pictures of their girls.
The DOJ’s Innocence Lost Initiative was noted for making strides, but they need to capitalize on their progress. The 10 traffickers that have presently been indicted needs to become 1000; the approximate 1200 children rescued needs to look more like 10,000; and the 50 beds available for these rescued victims needs to become 50,000.

There is a social change that is needed, according to Mr. Ernie Allen. This was done to campaign against tobacco and for the use of seat belts, and now we need society to see the realities of the heinous crimes happening to our children in America. As Tina Frundt so powerfully stated, “We need this [change] yesterday!”

Once questioning concluded, Chairman Scott adjourned the hearing with the closing remarks, “This was a very powerful hearing. We can do a lot more if we focus our minds to it.” Focus our minds we must, and continue to take the needed steps e.g. Craigslist shutting down their adult services section, but more importantly, the American people need to re-sensitize their psyche and raise their voices to fight against Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.