Shifting the paradigm from prosecution to protection to child victims of prostitution.

• Author: Badawy, Rami S.
• Position: Part 2

WHETHER THEY ARE TRAPPED in forced sexual or labor exploitation, human trafficking victims cannot walk away, but are held in service through force, threats, and fear. All too often suffering from horrible physical and sexual abuse, it is hard for them to imagine that there might be a place of refuge.

--Rhode Island General Assembly (1)

DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT, CHILD EXPLOITATION/HIGH RISK VICTIMS TRAFFICKING UNIT

In 2005, the Dallas Police Department created the Child Exploitation/High Risk Victims Trafficking Unit ("Unit") to identify and help juvenile sex trafficking victims. Prior to the Unit's creation, juveniles involved in prostitution were treated as criminals rather than victims of sexual exploitation. (2) According to the Unit's supervisor, Sgt. Byron A. Fassett,"[i]f a 45-year-old-man had sex with a 14-year-old-girl and no money changed hands ... he was likely to get jail time for statutory rape ... [i]f the same man left $80 on the table after having sex with her, she would probably be locked up for prostitution and he would probably go home with a fine as a john." (3) To change the community perception of these juveniles and to identify at risk children, Sgt. Fassett began to look for factors that contributed to minors becoming sex trafficking victims. Sgt. Fassett found that 80 percent of juveniles charged with prostitution by the Dallas Police Department had run away from home at least four times. (4) With a runaway population estimated at 6,000 children each year, Dallas was experiencing an epidemic of minors trafficked for sex. (5)

To identify and prevent minors from becoming trafficking victims, the Unit developed a database to track high risk victims. (6) A high risk victim ("HRV") is a minor who has run away from home four or more times in one year. (7) The HRV list also includes repeat victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. The Unit then established a protocol requiring the 32 Dallas county police agencies to refer all HRVs or any juveniles who are suspected of being involved in prostitution to the Unit. (8) In addition to training law enforcement to identify HRVs and trafficked minors, the Unit distributes a card to front-line officers and investigators instructing them to contact the Unit whenever they encounter an HRV or a minor suspected of being involved in prostitution. (9) Unit detectives are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Unit detectives almost always conduct interviews of HtKVs or juvenile trafficking victims. Juvenile sex trafficking victims are transported to the Dallas Police Department headquarters where they are placed in an environment appropriate to their status as a victim of sexual assault. Recognizing that traditional forensic interview models are not effective with this population, the Unit has developed and employs an interviewing model for adolescents who do not trust law enforcement and have been instructed by their pimp or trafficker to lie. (10) This approach recognizes the need for multiple interviews. Additionally, in contrast to the typical law enforcement tactic, the Unit uses a "child-first" approach, focusing on the juvenile's needs rather than attempting to gain information needed to charge the pimp/trafficker. In this way, the Unit fosters a relationship of trust with the juvenile sex trafficking victim, which may eventually lead to securing information necessary to prosecute the trafficker/pimp.

Despite the fact that the Unit uses a "child-first" approach, and recognizes that juveniles exploited through prostitution should be treated as victims, the Unit still charges these minors. These children are charged criminally because no alternative exists to detain the victims in a facility where they will be protected from the trafficker/pimp and receive services. (11) Although juvenile sex trafficking victims can be charged with prostitution or compelling prostitution, the Unit frequently charges these children with lesser offenses such as loitering, truancy, or violating curfew. (12) Furthermore, due to an agreement with juvenile court, prosecution of these lesser offenses is deferred if juvenile sex trafficking victims accept and complete a program implemented by a caseworker. These decisions represent the Unit's primary goal of getting juvenile sex trafficking victims off the streets so that they can address their problems and eventually return to their primary caregivers.

Following the initial interview, juvenile trafficking victims are detained at the Letot Center. The Letot Center was formed in 1979 through a partnership with the Dallas County Juvenile Department, the Dallas school district and the Junior League of Dallas. (13) The mission of the center is to assist abused and exploited adolescents and to prevent them from entering the juvenile justice system. (14) The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services designated the Letot Center as an emergency shelter. (15) Additionally, all caseworkers at the center are certified Dallas County juvenile probation officers. (16) These caseworkers have experience working with juvenile trafficking victims that enables them to better assess the juveniles' needs and provide the juvenile victims with appropriate services. Because the center is sanctioned by the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Department, all juvenile sex trafficking victims placed at the center are eligible to receive services through the department. (17) These services include medical care and substance abuse treatment as well as education and psychological services. (18) The center can provide shelter for domestic minor sex...