Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/30/2011 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB15 | |
| SB101 | |
| SB82 | |
| SB110 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 86 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 82 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 110 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 15 | ||
| = | SB 101 | ||
SB 110-HUMAN TRAFFICKING/SEX OFFENSES
2:29:11 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 110.
2:29:19 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said the committee has heard that there are
human traffickers targeting young Native girls, and it is a
serious problem. He noted that putting someone on a plane from a
village to Anchorage for the purpose of sex trafficking should
be made illegal. There is a trafficking law, but it only applies
to transporting someone from out of state, not instate. He noted
that the bill does a few things: Section 1 changes human
trafficking in the first degree by adding a provision for
persons under age 18 and increasing the penalty for that; this
section also adds the word "enticing."
Section 2 also adds a provision about "entices", and it adds
that to "move from one place to another in the state"
constitutes the crime of human trafficking.
He noted that there are concerns on the broad nature of the
language. He feels that encouraging someone to move from one
part of the state to another is just as serious as encouraging
them to move from Seattle to Alaska.
Another major provision is in Section 8, which says a judge
should have authority to remove sex offenders who live near
schools, but is not a blanket application to all convicted sex
offenders.
2:34:21 PM
LAUREN RICE, Director of Public Affairs, Covenant House Alaska
(CHA), testified in support of SB 110. CHA offers shelter for
unaccompanied youth--emergency shelter, food, healthcare, access
to permanent housing. It is located in Anchorage, but about 44
percent of the children come from outside of Anchorage and
almost 45 percent are Alaska Native.
Covenant House Alaska began taking an active role in combating
human trafficking about five years ago. Both the Anchorage
Police Department (APD) and the FBI have given them long term
trafficking prevention strategies. CHA has witnessed a visible
decrease around its area, but this is still very prevalent in
the state. CHA has helped kids coming from other countries, out
of state, and in state. Youth in need of protection against
active human trafficking are identified on a monthly basis.
She noted the roots of trafficking are found in childhood
trauma; the vast majority of youth being trafficked are victims
of sexual or physical violence in their younger years. The issue
requires a holistic approach to really protect Alaska's
children. One young woman told CHA staff she could stay at home
and be raped by her grandfather, or she could be paid for the
same act. Covenant House Alaska is committed to giving youth
choices beyond human trafficking.
2:39:07 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked what the scope of the problem is within the
state.
MS. RICE replied CHA used to collect data on an informal basis
and have become more sophisticated about it. They wanted to make
sure that they had services to help, depending on the answers to
these questions. She said they know that about 50 percent of the
girls in their facility have been sexually abused, and 35
percent of their kids (both male and female) have engaged in
"survival sex" or informal prostitution in order to get the
commodities that they need. Of those, probably half have been
tied to active trafficking situations. But that number is truly
a guess; it used to be significantly more visible and has become
less so because APD has targeted individuals who were hanging
around outside the shelter and targeting kids. However, they
know that kids are still being trafficked on the Internet, and
there is proof of that.
2:41:51 PM
REGINA CHENAULT, representing herself, testified in support of
SB 110. She is a trauma surgeon who has treated patients who
have experienced violent sexual crimes. She serves on the state
violent crimes board, and last year Sexual Assault Against
Minors were the highest growing category of crimes. They don't
know if that is due to increased reporting or increased
occurrence of assaults. She also serves on the State Trauma
Committee, where they are tallying injuries.
She said she is a mother of three and fears this could happen to
her children, because it crosses all groups and all lines. She
noted that 85 percent of Alaska Natives serving a prison
sentence for sexual assault of minors were sexually assaulted
themselves as minors; this is a cycle the state needs to end.
Traffickers are even targeting children who hang out at malls.
She said that the definition of trafficking should be strong,
and should include trafficking within the state. She noted the
Webster Case; there are victims who now have children, drug
dependency, and lifelong STDs.
She recently learned that a group of Koreans are targeting
children in the villages. There's a scheme set up where a
customer cannot get to the point of having sex with a child
until they first hire an adult prostitute and have sex with him
or her. In this way, they ensure it's not a sting operation.
This ring seems to be the fastest growing group that is
targeting children in Alaska.
2:48:20 PM
ANNE CARPENETI, Criminal Division, Department of Law said that
this is a serious problem in the state. She said she had a long
conversation with Sergeant Lacey from APD and learned that the
problem is enforcement. For her, trafficking is moving
individuals from one place to another. But the new trend is what
used to be called "pimping" or "promoting prostitution."
CHAIR FRENCH asked where promoting prostitution comes in, and
what is missing from that statute.
MS. CARPENETI replied nothing; promoting prostitution in the
first degree is an unclassified felony if the person is under
age 18. It is much easier to prove promoting prostitution than
trafficking. Under this bill DOL has to prove force, deception,
and movement for trafficking. This does not attack the problem
of promoting prostitution. It can be called trafficking, but it
is really promoting prostitution of young women. Some young
women actually come to urban areas on their own with no support,
and they become easy victims. Right now, she said, no prosecutor
would bring charges under this bill when he or she could bring
charges under promoting prostitution.
2:51:29 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said one of the problems that he sees is that
some people are surviving off of sexual behavior. He asked if
this would still be under the prostitution issue or would the
trafficking bill take care of this.
MS. CARPENETI replied if you induce or cause someone to engage
in commercial sex, it would be considered prostitution. The
problem is getting the victims to let them know who the
perpetrators are. She said the range of penalty for a first
felony conviction for promoting prostitution of a child under
age 18 is 20-30 years, depending on the age of the victim. If
the victim is under 13, the penalty would be 25-35 years; if the
victim is between 13 and 18, the penalty would be 20-30 years.
Current law takes this very seriously.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he has a slightly different take on
it. Section 2 deals with human trafficking. It deals with
prostitution, but also adult entertainment--forcing someone to
work through force, or threat of force. When speaking about
prostitution you are only speaking talking about AS 11.41.360.
MS. CARPENETI replied there is a crime in Title 23 dealing with
forced labor. She said DOL has suggestions. For example, the
forced labor of young children in Title 23 for commercial sex is
a class C felony. She agreed that prostitution does not deal
with labor. The problem in the state is not the trafficking,
it's the prostitution. People aren't found and moved from one
place to another; they are found in one place and victimized.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if she could go back over the last five years
and let the committee know how many trafficking prosecutions
there have been and how many prostitution prosecutions.
SENATOR COGHILL clarified how many charges, versus convictions.
MS. CARPENETI said that there are some concerns about the second
degree language, which DOL found to be overbroad. "Entices" is a
very broad word.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he and his staff have been working
with Ms. Carpeneti.
2:56:41 PM
QUINLAN STEINER, Director, Alaska Public Defender Agency, said
he has the same concerns that Ms. Carpeneti expressed.
Definition of these words becomes quite broad. Enticing does not
imply changing someone's mind or forcing an individual to do
something other than simply offering an enticement. "Move from
one place to another" might run into some constitutional
problems. The combination of the three concepts causes him some
concern on how this might be charged.
2:58:52 PM
DOUG GARDINER, Director, Legislative Legal Services, introduced
himself and said he was available to answer questions.
CHAIR FRENCH said that Senator Wielechowski says that the word
enticed comes from statutes in other states.
MR. GARDNER replied this term comes from the on-line statute in
existing Alaska Statutes. He said he does not have a specific
definition for entice, and is not aware of any case law in the
state that defines this. He noted that Senator Coghill made a
good point; what would happen if you moved an underage person
within the state for sexual purposes, but DOL was unable to
prove there was some type of agreement for prostitution. In that
case, DOL might actually be better off with the proposal for
promoting human trafficking.
3:01:34 PM
Chair French announced he would hold SB 110 in committee.
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