Lagging on Sex Trafficking Laws, Legislators Hope to do Something About it

By Stacy Brown | PA Independent

HARRISBURG — The sex trafficking of minors in Pennsylvania could become a first-degree felony under new legislation that targets traffickers and protects their victims.

"The issue of human trafficking certainly is one that not a lot of people are aware of, but it is happening right here in Pennsylvania," said state Rep. Brian Ellis, R-Butler.

Sex trafficking is the recruitment, transportation or harboring of people for commercial sexual exploitation through deception, threat of or use of force, and other forms of coercion. Specific statistics on sex trafficking of minors in Pennsylvania is not available.

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Butler's proposal, House Bill 2016, that would make sex trafficking youths younger than 18 a first-degree felony.

Currently, it is a third-degree felony, according to the Pennsylvania Crime Code.

HB 2016 also would allow for second-degree felony charges to be filed against parents who sell or transfer custody of a minor, or simply make a child available for sex trafficking. Pennsylvania law only allows for third degree felony charges in such cases.

The bill now moves to the state House for consideration later this month.

First-degree felonies carry 20-year maximum sentences, while second-degree felonies have 10-year maximum sentences, according to the Pennsylvania Crime Code.

Third-degree felonies are punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Pennsylvania has been plagued by sex trafficking in recent years.

Children as young as 12 were among 150 victims of a sex trafficking ring in Harrisburg, in which 24 people including two Pennsylvania state troopers were arrested. The two-year investigation beginning in 2005 was known as Operation Precious Cargo.

 "Human trafficking has been in the shadows for too long and we definitely have a problem in Pennsylvania and it's time we did something about it," said state Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny.

"Human trafficking is a euphemism for slavery. It's hard for the average citizen to understand that we have a problem."

Organizations that assist victims have been lobbying for changes in law for some time, they said.

 "When we hear the words human trafficking, we think of countries such as Thailand or (in countries in) South America, but it's here in our backyard," said Debbie Colton, founder of Oasis of Hope Ministries in north central Pennsylvania, a faith-based organization, which helps child victims of crimes.

"Sex trafficking is viewed as a victimless crime for both boys and girls whose ages range from 12 to 15," Colton said.