U.S. Government Response

• Legislation re international child trafficking
  In 2000 a law was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton called the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Under the law, all persons under 18 years old involved in a commercial sex act are automatically defined as victims whether or not they were brought into the U.S. from another country, whether or not they are trafficked across state lines, and no matter how "consensual" their participation.
  
  Under TVPA there is funding available for support services to children from other countries who are not eligible for services that a U.S. child is entitled to access.
• Legislation pending re domestic child trafficking American children, who are trafficked, are entitled to all services provided under our current child welfare laws. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases they are not recognized as victims of human trafficking and are "falling through the cracks" of the juvenile justice system, the juvenile court system, and the social service field. Child Welfare agencies are reluctant to accept into care children who are so damaged that they will need intensive, long-term care.
• Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare System The need for community education, prevention, advocacy and treatment of these children is clear. However, when brought to the attention of the police and the courts the children are often discharged:
  • back to the perpetrator;
  • to their parents (from whom they ran away); or
  • to foster homes (from which they bolt as they are too damaged and upset to fit into the closeness of a family.
• Some Recent Prosecutions Domestic child prostitution cases have been a federal law enforcement priority since 2003 with the Justice Department’s Innocence Lost initiative. There have been more than 500 arrests, 70 indictments and 67 convictions in such cases since 2003.
  • 19 Arrested in Federal Crackdown on Child Prostitution Rings
    "Prostitution rings from New York to Hawaii forced 30 children, some as young as 12, to have sex at truck stops, hotels and brothels, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday in announcing a government crackdown. Nineteen people have been arrested among 31 who have been indicted for sexual trafficking in children, taking minors across state lines for prostitution and other crimes, Gonzales said. "The abhorrent acts alleged in these charges include children being herded around the country as sex slaves…and beaten at the hands of pimps and peddlers", he said at a Justice Department news conference. The indictments, in Michigan, News Jersey and Pennsylvania, target the purported operators of four child prostitution rings. Some of the children had been reported missing or had run away because they had been abused at home, FBI assistant director Chris Swecker said. A grand jury in Camden, NJ, indicted eight people Wednesday on charges that they conspired to recruit girls to be prostitutes in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and New York, according to court documents. The defenants managed a prostitution ring that also extended to Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, the indictment said.’ In Detroit, a grand jury charged four Ohio residents with forcing two girls, 14 and 15, to have sex at a truck stop in Michigan. The girls had been held as prisoners in Toledo, Ohio where they were told to address on defendant as "Daddy", and taken to hotel rooms for prostitution. …In Pennsylvania, 16 people have been charged for their roles in taking girls as young as 12 to work as prostitutes at truck stops in the Harrisburg area and in Washington and Toledo." (Washington Post, December 17, 2005)
  • May 2004, in Oklahoma City, the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted 19 people accused of crimes including child prostitution, sex trafficking of children and pimping. Pimps allegedly transported young girls to cities and truck stops in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Arkansas for prostitution. Of the many girls involved 13 were reunited with their families. (Associated Press Newswires, May 10, 2004. "Federal charges allege sex trafficking of children" Sean Murphy.)
  • In August 1999, the FBI and Minneapolis law enforcement authorities arrested 15 members and associates of the Evans family, on charges related to a multi-million dollar prostitution operation. They operated this ring for8 more than 17 years in at least 24 states and Canada. They allegedly recruited young girls, some as young as 14, and forced them to prostitute themselves at massage parlors and escort services. After turning three to ten tricks a day, the girls were forced to give up all their earnings or be beaten, raped or killed. One pregnant 15 year old was so severely beaten that she miscarried. A 14-year old runaway was raped by one of the Evans family members. Two other young girls involved with the Evans family are missing or dead. (The Hofstede Committee Report: Juvenile Prostitution in Minnesota, November 3, 1999.)