SECTION 4
Due to a combination of factors, from the laws that apply to cases involving juveniles to jurisdictional limitations and prosecutorial priorities, some law enforcement agencies reported working more closely with a specific prosecuting entity on juvenile sex trafficking cases and others reported working with different prosecutorial entities depending on the type of case. In Maricopa County where the bulk of buyer cases are being prosecuted, law enforcement refer buyer cases almost exclusively to the county attorney’s office for prosecution. According to law enforcement, federal prosecutors have declined to prosecute defendants charged with buying or attempting to buy sex with a minor. Since December 1, 2013, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has commenced 89 prosecutions of buyers of sex with a minor under the child prostitution law. This reflects a broad expansion of demand-focused efforts since Shared Hope’s first assessment in Arizona in 2010. That research showed that only five of the 87 sex trafficking cases prosecuted under the child prostitution law since 2006 had involved buyers. A primary reason for the increase in buyer prosecutions in Maricopa County has been a substantial increase in proactive demand investigation through sting operations in Phoenix as well as other cities in the Greater Phoenix area including Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler and Scottsdale. 33
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Law enforcement in Pima County reported that they work with the county attorneys and federal partners as well as the Arizona Office of the Attorney General when RICO charges are involved. The majority of juvenile sex trafficking cases are referred for federal prosecution while adult sex trafficking cases are generally referred to the county attorney’s office. In contrast with Maricopa County which has anti-demand efforts focused on buyers of sex with juveniles, Pima County’s anti-demand efforts have been focused on buyers of sex with adults. As a result, all of the buyer prosecutions resulting from customer apprehension operations are directed to the Tucson City Prosecutor for prosecution under misdemeanor solicitation charges. Law enforcement cited evidentiary concerns and resources as a major hurdle to expanding investigations to buyers of sex with juveniles due to the complexity of establishing that the buyer knew or had reason to know he was attempting to buy sex with a minor. The current priorities reported by local law enforcement in Pima County were (1) looking for possible juvenile victims, (2) adult victim recovery or assistance, (3) arresting pimps and (4) arresting adults in violation of the prostitution law. 35
Yavapai County law enforcement reported working very closely with the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office on all juvenile trafficking cases (while buyers of sex with adults would be prosecuted at the misdemeanor level by the Prescott City Prosecutor). All of the cases involving buyers of sex with minors arrested in Yavapai County have been prosecuted by the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.
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The United States Attorney’s Office in Phoenix declined to participate in an interview for this Field Assessment. Smith, Linda, et al. Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Child Sex Slavery in Arizona. Shared Hope International, 2010, p. 3. http://sharedhope.org/ wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ArizonaRA.pdf. Accessed on April 29, 2015. Term used by Tucson Police Department for sting operations targeting sex buyers.
39 Demanding Justice Arizona: A Field Assessment of Demand Deterrence and Enforcement and Justice for Victims