enforcement immediately. The pimp actually called the FBI and claimed that he did not have Josie but may know where she was located. The agents told him that they knew she was with him and that she had to be returned immediately and safely to Houston. Once again, law enforcement tracked them to a hotel, this time in Mississippi. While it was confirmed that they had been there, law enforcement officers arrived too late—Josie’s pimp had already checked out and they were on the move. The next day, Josie was intercepted at the Houston Greyhound bus station by law enforcement. She confirmed that she had been in the hotels in New Orleans and Mississippi, that one of the pimp’s friends took the nude photographs that were posted online, and that the pimp had posted them using his laptop computer. Ultimately, Josie opened up to law enforcement about how her pimp lured her into the prostitution business with promises of love, affection and attention. He repeatedly raped her and forced her to prostitute for him, knowing that she was a child and pregnant. Josie believed that she loved him. He paid for her to have a tattoo placed on the back of her neck, branding her for life with his pimp moniker. Her pimp took all the money she earned, beat her if she defied him, stole her self esteem and childhood, turning her into someone her family didn’t recognize. Josie’s mother now raises the grandchild Josie was pregnant with when she was first seduced by this pimp and a second grandchild conceived in the aftermath. As her mother puts it, “The children may live in Josie’s heart but the pimp lives in her head.” The truth of that statement was never more evident than when the prosecution was preparing for trial. Josie, five years later, was still struggling to put the pimp’s actions in perspective and attempt to move past her feelings of affection for him while describing in the same breath the atrocities he visited on her. She was beaten, raped, supplied drugs, photographed nude and sold to
strangers. For this, her pimp was given over 30 years in prison.3 That sentence, while a strong statement against sex trafficking, does little to erase the ghosts Josie faces every day. After the trial, Josie was offered state funds to remove the tattoo. She did not take advantage of that opportunity. Once again she fell into the underworld of sex trafficking, moved around the country being prostituted by other pimps, and struggled to survive. Thankfully, Josie has now escaped that world and is enrolled in school, training for a future that does not involve sexual exploitation. What the reading of the horrific events above does not show is that Josie is a beautiful girl, six feet tall, blond, blue-eyed and very bright. She is a voracious reader and very inquisitive. However, nothing will ever be able to undo the injustices she suffered at the hands of the adult males that used and abused her for their financial gain. While many of the challenges faced by foreign and domestic victims are the same, there are some distinct differences. First, most foreign victims are in the United States because they have been brought across the border illegally and are under the control of their traffickers “working” off their debt. These children know that they are being victimized but fear law enforcement and have no way to escape from the traffickers. Even if they could escape they do not speak the language, know where they are or whom to trust. Second, because the foreign victims lack status in the United States they can be held in custody until their immigration issues are resolved. This affords them the opportunity to obtain services while it affords the prosecution the benefit of knowing where their victims are for the purposes of trial. The greatest challenge faced in the
prosecution of domestic sex traffickers, those persons commonly known as “pimps,” is removing the victims from their immediate environment for a long enough period of time for them to realize they are actually victims, and do need assistance. Until recently, the criminal justice system was a revolving door for America’s trafficked youth. With the assistance of recent legislation and new placement opportunities, victims are being given a chance to get their lives back. In In the Matter of B.W., the Texas Supreme Court made it illegal to prosecute a child under the age of 14 for prostitution, preventing the criminalization of a child of such tender years.4 While this is a good starting point, it does not address the victims in the 14- to 18-year-old range5 who are arrested and often prosecuted as adults. Underage girls are often arrested in vice stings. At the instruction of their pimps, they give a fake name and date of birth, which then places them in the system as adults. Until recently, no one questioned a “woman” entering a plea to prostitution. As awareness of this issue is on the rise, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys are starting to question arrested individuals more closely. If it is determined that an arrested individual is underage, several options are available: the child can be sent to juvenile court, she can be sent to Harris County’s Girls Court or her case can be dismissed. Most importantly, if she has not already been questioned, she can be questioned by law enforcement specifically trained to investigate sex trafficking in the hope that she will reveal information about her pimp. This process can last weeks because it often takes the victims quite some time to turn on their pimp. While international sex trafficking victims face many of the same challenges as
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September/October 2012
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