Cranston Chief: Arresting Johns Worth Saving One Sex Trafficking Victim

CRANSTON, RI—To save one juvenile victim of human sex trafficking, is it worth arresting dozens of men seeking to pay for sex?

It's a pointed question raised by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in the wake of a major sting in Cranston last week that led the to arrests of more than a dozen men and the apparent rescue of a 16-year-old girl being sold for sex.

In response to the question, Cranston Police Chief Col. Michael J. Winquist says yes.

"If we arrest only one human trafficker, or save at least one young person being victimized out of the many other arrests we make for procuring sexual conduct for a fee, the operation is a success and well worth the effort," Winquist said in a statement in response to an ACLU statement decrying the department for last week's sting operation that netted 17 arrests.

Of the arrests, just one was for human trafficking; a 21-year-old Providence woman allegedly brought a 16-year-old female to an undisclosed city location in response to ads posted by police on the Backpage.com website, a widely-used forum for pimps and prostitutes to advertise their services.

The rest, according to the ACLU, were adults who were seeking sexual contact for a fee and they have ended up humiliated and charged "for seeking consensual sex," the ACLU said in a release that was issued over the weekend but embargoed until early Monday morning.

"Human trafficking is a scourge, and efforts to eradicate it are to be applauded. However, as this operation makes clear, law enforcement stings like this one often end up having little to do with trafficking," said ACLU of Rhode Island Policy Associate Hillary Davis. "Conflating prostitution with trafficking does nothing to help the trafficking victims who remain ensnared while consenting adults are pursued and arrested. By humiliating and charging johns for seeking consensual sex and by giving prostitutes arrest records in the name of 'helping' them, these operations misleadingly purport to crack down on human trafficking, when their major effect is just to make the lives of prostitutes more difficult and dangerous, driving sex work even deeper into the shadows."

Winquist said that the reality is victims of sex trafficking are often forced into those shadowy places by people who manipulate, often with physical and emotional abuse mixed with drugs. Often, the chief said, the only way to reach a victim of sex trafficking, or to provide support to someone involved in prostitution who needs help, is through an arrest.

"It is rare for victims of human trafficking to seek assistance on their own as their ability to recognize a need for help is diminished from drug use and conditioning that their lives are worthless," Winquist said. "We will not shield the identities of individuals who come into the City of Cranston looking to pay for sex and will continue to be transparent by making the names of those arrested available to the public through our Department website and media releases.”

Winquist argued that law enforcement officials must address both the supply and demand side of the equation. The ease with which a "John" can find paid-for sex online has allowed purveyors of paid sex to flourish in the shadows.

There is an ongoing debate involving members of law enforcement, civil rights groups and the general public over the enforcement of prostitution laws. Some argue that legalizing prostitution would ensure safety for sex workers and lift some of the stigmas that prevent people from seeking help from drugs or bad situations.

"We commend the organizations in the state actively working to provide social and other support services to sex workers who may have addiction or need other assistance. But we emphatically reject the notion that the only way these individuals can be helped is if they are first put into handcuffs," Davis said.

Cranston police carried out the sting over two days in an undisclosed location in Cranston.

Detectives placed ads on the Backpage.com website and said in a media release announcing the sting that they were targeting "individuals exploiting juvenile and adult victims via the Internet for purposes of human trafficking and prostitution."

Most of those arrested were men between the ages of 20 to 53 and hailed from across Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Cranston police led the operation and were joined by members and agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rhode Island State Police and police departments in Seekonk, Narragansett, Providence and East Providence.

Police said the operation was conducted with support from DayOne and the Auburn Center.