House votes to toughen human trafficking ban; bill now headed to governor
By Dan Carden dan.carden@nwi.com, (317) 637-9078 nwitimes.com | Posted: Friday, January 27, 2012 2:20 pm | Loading…
INDIANAPOLIS | Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to quickly sign into law tough, new restrictions on human trafficking that he called for in his State of the State address earlier this month.
The Indiana House voted 93-0 Friday to approve Senate Bill 4, which clarifies state law to ban the use of force or fraud to compel participation in sexual conduct and prohibits a parent or guardian from selling or transferring custody of their child for prostitution.
State Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Danville, said forced prostitution and sexual slavery tend to follow large events and the Feb. 5 Super Bowl in Indianapolis is one of the biggest events in the world.
See the full article from “nwitimes.com”
Human trafficking can include the recruiting, harboring or selling of a person for purposes of prostitution, commercial sex acts, forced labor or involuntary servitude. Zoeller has said repeatedly that the large Super Bowl crowd tends to draw organized criminal rings that promote prostitution.
“The legislators who make up our Indiana General Assembly are to be complimented for rising above the tension and divisiveness of the past weeks in coming together to pass this important measure as the first bill of the session,” Zoeller said in a statement.
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Close a loophole in the existing statute so non-relatives who traffic a child can be prosecuted, rather than a parent or guardian only. More effectively define the crime of “promotion of human trafficking of a minor” so that prosecutors could bring charges against traffickers even if no force was used and for situations involving prostitution and involuntary servitude by minors. Broaden the penalty for certain types of trafficking so the sentences are increased.
See the full article from “The Statehouse File”
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The bill to outlaw human trafficking tied to the Super Bowl is on its way to the governor’s desk. The Indiana House passed the measure on a unanimous vote Friday morning. The tally was 93-to-0.
The measure is a top priority for Attorney General Greg Zoeller. It makes it easier to prosecute anyone who forces children into the commercial sex trade.
During House debate, Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington) talked about how human trafficking has been discovered at previous Super Bowls.
“Young women are being brought into this city on this week,” she said, “and what they say is they’re bringing their stables in of these young boys and young girls and young women for sexual favors.”
Rep. Ralph Foley (R-Martinsville) also had strong words for trafficking.
“It is more than just prostitution,” he said. “It is involuntary servitude also virtual slavery.”
See the full article from “WISH”
INDIANAPOLIS — A bill to toughen Indiana’s penalties for sex trafficking is on its way to Gov. Mitch Daniels for him to sign into law ahead of next weekend’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
The Indiana House voted 93-0 in favor of the bill Friday that cleared the state Senate in a 48-0 vote earlier this month.
The governor had asked legislators to approve the tougher measures so they could be used in any Super Bowl-related cases
Prosecutors and other supporters say the bill would make it easier to prosecute sex trafficking cases involving victims younger than 16 and broaden the law for cases with older victims. The bill makes recruiting, transporting or harboring anyone younger than 16 for prostitution a felony punishable by 20 years to 50 years in prison.
See the full article from “WRTV Indianapolis”
Supporters of the bill sought to have it approved before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl, citing increased levels of prostitution that have accompanied many major sports events around the country.
Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, said most people didn’t understand the seriousness of the human trafficking problem and that it was important for legislators to send the message the “Indiana does not stand for that type of abhorrent behavior.”
The bill makes recruiting, transporting or harboring anyone younger than 16 for prostitution or other sexual conduct a felony punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison. It also would bar defendants from arguing a child consented to the sexual activity.
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Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville, pointed out that the measure covers more than those trafficked for prostitution, but also instances in which people would be enticed into the country by promises of jobs only to be essentially held in slavery.
See the full article from “NECN”
INDIANAPOLIS — The first bill headed to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ desk of the 2012 legislative session is an effort to toughen Indiana’s human trafficking laws ahead of the Super Bowl.
The House gave final approval to a measure Friday that would close loopholes that Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has argued must be dealt with ahead of the Feb. 5 game in Indianapolis, because, he says, such events attract increased activity in the commercial sex trade.
Under current law, prosecutors must prove that those charged with recruiting children to engage in prostitution used or at least threatened to use force – and while prostitution is covered, other types of sexual conduct are not.
And a loophole in Indiana’s laws gives prosecutors no tools to go after those who give or sell to others for the purpose of those children then being sold into prostitution.
See the full article from “Evansville Courier & Press”
Then comes media day on Tuesday, followed by incessant coverage of events that normally you wouldn’t care about, but are covered by reporters simply to make it seem to their bosses that they’re actually working on Super Bowl week —so that bosses don’t wise up and decide to not fly them in until Friday night.
The media will make stories out of anything, and that includes your town. If the weather is nice and the food is good, expect rave reviews. If the weather is crappy, expect to be heavily criticized.
And that’s where this slideshow with the obscenely long intro and jokes about strippers comes in. Even though there are 31 metropolitan areas home to NFL franchises (I’m counting Oakland/San Francisco as one since it is the “Bay Area”), only 13 of them have thus far been home to Super Bowls, with that number only climbing to 15 by 2015.
See the full article from “Du Quoin Evening Call”
Then comes media day on Tuesday, followed by incessant coverage of events that normally you wouldn’t care about, but are covered by reporters simply to make it seem to their bosses that they’re actually working on Super Bowl week —so that bosses don’t wise up and decide to not fly them in until Friday night.
The media will make stories out of anything, and that includes your town. If the weather is nice and the food is good, expect rave reviews. If the weather is crappy, expect to be heavily criticized.
And that’s where this slideshow with the obscenely long intro and jokes about strippers comes in. Even though there are 31 metropolitan areas home to NFL franchises (I’m counting Oakland/San Francisco as one since it is the “Bay Area”), only 13 of them have thus far been home to Super Bowls, with that number only climbing to 15 by 2015.
See the full article from “Wicked Local”
… We have a moral obligation to stand up to human trafficking,” Glenn said.
He said mentoring is the key and that he tries to help young kids find their potential.
Zoeller said he remains optimistic the General Assembly will pass Senate Bill 4 – which would enact more stringent penalties on human trafficking in time to be effective before the Super Bowl.
The Senate has passed the bill but its journey through the House has been slowed by the right-to-work drama in the House.
Even if the bill is signed into law later than expected, Zoeller said state officials have trained police and others about how to deal with the crime.
“Law enforcement has been trained for years to look at prostitutes as criminals,” Zoeller said. “A lot of times they’re victims.”
See the full article from “The Statehouse File”
Then comes media day on Tuesday, followed by incessant coverage of events that normally you wouldn’t care about, but are covered by reporters simply to make it seem to their bosses that they’re actually working on Super Bowl week —so that bosses don’t wise up and decide to not fly them in until Friday night.
The media will make stories out of anything, and that includes your town. If the weather is nice and the food is good, expect rave reviews. If the weather is crappy, expect to be heavily criticized.
And that’s where this slideshow with the obscenely long intro and jokes about strippers comes in. Even though there are 31 metropolitan areas home to NFL franchises (I’m counting Oakland/San Francisco as one since it is the “Bay Area”), only 13 of them have thus far been home to Super Bowls, with that number only climbing to 15 by 2015.
See the full article from “St. James Plaindealer”