Poll: Should Child Sex Trafficking be a Serious Felony?
California consistently ranks number one in the nation in the number of human trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Native American girls and women, i.e., people having XX chromosomes, are victims of human trafficking at a much higher rate compared to the overall population. Currently, under California law, those who repeatedly violate the rights of innocent children by kidnapping, selling and using them for sex are prosecuted with leniency.
California Senate Bill 14, if passed, would classify such crimes as “serious felonies”, making them subject to the sentencing provisions of the Three Strikes Law. The Three Strikes law is intended to significantly increase prison sentences of persons convicted of felonies who have been previously convicted of one or more violent or serious felonies by giving them “strikes” for each conviction of a violent or serious offense. The violent and serious felonies subject to the increased penalties must be specifically listed in state law.