Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/30/2011 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
Audio | Topic |
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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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