Bill Aims To Help Kids Who've Been Trafficked Into Sex Trade

INDIANAPOLIS – Parents of missing children could receive additional help if a bill passed unanimously Wednesday by the House Family, Children, and Human Affairs Committee becomes law.

House Bill 1216, authored by Rep. Randy Truitt, R- West Lafayette, would require the Indiana State Police superintendent to create a pamphlet to be distributed by law enforcement when encountering a missing child report.

The bill also provides a defense to the crime of prostitution if the defendant is a child and a victim of human or sexual trafficking.

Truitt said there is a runaway crisis in America, and between 1.6 million and 2.8 million youth run away each year. Youth ages 12 to 17 are at a higher risk of homelessness than adults.

Truitt also said that although there are currently free programs available to help parents of missing children, many families still do not know where to turn.

Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington said a website called backpage.com is one of the main sites frequently used for child sex trafficking.

Backpage.com is an escort service where underage children are solicited out to individuals. The site is on the radar of the Indiana State Police, and Sergeant Brad Hoffeditz said the site was an investigative tool they used frequently.

“Once they get into this industry there is no way out for them,” Harrington said.

“One of the things that is frequently overlooked is that these children eventually become adults and they don’t necessarily drop out of the pimp or prostitution system just because they turn 18,” Hoffeditz said.

Due to the current regulations of the law, these children when caught are arrested and booked for prostitution. According to Harrington, they usually have identification saying they are 18 years old and bailed out by their pimps before the ID can be checked out.

“When we arrest them we are reaffirming to these victims that they are going to be prosecuted,” Harrington said. “The pimps are telling them the cops are going to put you in jail you have to stay with me.”

The second part of the bill, which provides a defense to prostitution for the underage individuals, gives children involved in sex trafficking amnesty.

Harrington said that instead of solely providing amnesty, he wants victims to be moved into a safe house.

“We’re neutral on this bill,” Hoffeditz said. “However, we would always like to provide whatever assistance we could to allow for this to take place.”

Currently, police hand out informational pamphlets on domestic violence and the health crisis, most of which were provided by other entities with no cost to police. The Indiana State Police also operate a missing child clearinghouse to help local missing or runaway children.

Hoffeditz said that if the police were required to create these pamphlets he estimated it to cost close to $15,000 to start and an estimated $10,000 per year to maintain.

“We are not as proficient as a state of handling missing children as many other states are,” Hoffeditz said.

The reason ISP maintains a clearinghouse is because they do not have the funding that many other states use in order to create better services for missing children.

House Bill 1378, authored by Rep. John Bartlett, D- Indianapolis, would create a unit in the Attorney General’s office instead of a clearinghouse that would govern missing children incidents.

Rep. Kevin Mahan, R- Hartford City, chairs the committee where the bill has be sent and said he would let the bill be heard or see if an amendment to HB 1216 could be made to include the creation of the unit.

Ben Brown is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.