Cases where trafficking of a child may not result in charges for human trafficking There are a few reasons why cases where children were trafficked for sex may not result in charges for human trafficking of a child:
Human Trafficking of a Child is a new area of criminal justice. It was only added to the Utah criminal code in 2015. In the old model of viewing these cases, many times the child being sex trafficked was arrested for prostitution and adjudicated delinquent in the juvenile justice system. Only in the last year did Utah pass a “safe harbor” provision for children engaged in the sex trade that clarifies they should be treated as victims and referred to services.
While the safe harbor provision has helped protect child victims of sex trafficking from improper criminal charges, the criminal justice field at large still has a long way to go in shifting from viewing this crime into a human trafficking lens. In some jurisdictions, these cases are still investigated through the lens of prostitution and not human trafficking. Sometimes suspects are charged with exploiting prostitution even in cases where children were sex trafficked.
Another component of the safe harbor philosophy is that we should avoid re-victimizing those preyed on by sex traffickers by pressuring them to participate in the criminal justice process. In our office, we often prosecute defendants who we have reason to believe are traffickers with other related offenses, either because the victim does not want to participate in our criminal case or to protect them from having to do so if we can secure justice through other charges.
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Commoner ago
I haven't checked with other states but look at Utah, No wonder why it is 5th worst state for child trafficking
UTAH LAW TREATED HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS, INCLUDING CHILDREN, AS PROSTITUTES UP UNTIL 2015 https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/tag/human-trafficking