From Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill
The legislature has made strides to combat human trafficking in Pennsylvania over the last few years. Representative Seth Grove (R-York) and I are working to close a loophole that exists in the current law.
On Wednesday, we introduced the “Buyer Beware Act,” which would double the maximum jail sentence for an individual convicted of trafficking or patronizing a victim of trafficking. Currently, these crimes carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison. The bill would upgrade these to first-degree felonies, which carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
In addition, those convicted of patronizing a victim of sexual trafficking would receive an increased fine of between $1,000 and $30,000, up from $500, at the discretion of the court. If the victim is a minor at the time of the offense, the fine would be increased to a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $100,000.
You can watch my comments in the video below:
In addition to Representative Grove, I was joined by York County District Attorney Dave Sunday, Pennsylvania Victim Rights Advocate Jennifer Storm, Representatives Kate Klunk (R-York), Keith Gillespie (R-York) and Dave Maloney (R-Berks), along with several other groups dedicated to combatting human trafficking.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday discusses the need for the “Buyer Beware Act.”
I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch the entire news conference, which can be found here.
The practice of human trafficking amounts to modern-day slavery. Although it is not a new crime, the number of reported cases is growing at an alarming rate.
Senate Bill 60 (not posted yet) and House Bill 12 represents another major step in stopping his horrific practice in Pennsylvania.
Read more about our efforts here.
Beverly Dale
There is no data to support the statement that sex trafficking is increasing at an alarming rate. Lacking data, it is a falsehood.
Given that local police have a financial incentive to call all sex crimes trafficking (it justifies expenditure of massive amounts of federal $) and given that a sex worker can routinely be charged as a sex trafficked victim herself (&if she doesn’t agree with that identity as trafficked victim her punishments are greater), what’s happening here is penalizing sex workers & their consensual customers. I can provide research materials & data to support this. Politicians are either misinformed or see the advantage of stoking people’s fears for a largely non-existent issue. (Talking about sex trafficking in PA here. Human trafficking occurs but primarily in garment & domestic industries & in agriculture. Where’s the outcry about that?!!)