Courts Take A Kinder Look At Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking

[redqueen]

...

The numbers are staggering. The Justice Department estimates that each year at least 200,000 children are trafficked for sex in the U.S., and it is said to generate upward of $32 billion a year.

Across the country, teens are being picked up on prostitution charges. It's a stunning contradiction in the law: Girls who are too young to legally consent to sex are being prosecuted for selling it.

...

Pratt remembers one case that made her believe the system was broken. A young girl was asked to testify against her pimp, in a public adult court, in a case that involved her being drugged into unconsciousness. She was asked by the district attorney to review a tape of the incident, which she had never seen, and identify the defendants in the court.

"It was a devastating experience for her, and she has struggled ever since then," Pratt says. "So that is one of the cases I feel very badly about. I feel like we did a very poor job of protecting her from that and preparing her for that. It's one of the lessons that I learned about how to work with these kids."

...

http://www.wnyc.org/story/courts-take-a-kinder-look-at-victims-of-child-sex-trafficking/

It was really hard to decide what to include in this excerpt. Later she mentions the reason for not prosecuting men who buy sex from trafficked people - because its not "politically expedient" - I'd really like to know more about that, and why it is even an option not to prosecute these men.

[unblock]

1. i wonder if the bilingual pun in the headline was intentional

'kinder' is german for 'children'


looks like a compelling article, bookmarking for later.

[siligut]

2. Not politically expedient as there a labyrinth of power, collusion and fear that protects these guys

I spoke with an attorney who was handling a case here in Washington. A group calling themselves the "Posse Comitatus" came in his office and intimidated him, created confusion around the case and then took the guy under their wing. If I had known then what I know now, I would have printed all of the information on the case out, as it is, I can't find it any longer.

As you must know, the rabbit hole goes deep and it isn't at all inviting.

[geek tragedy]

3. Because too many men in power worry that they could be the ones

who get arrested.

[ismnotwasm]

4. +1