Senators discuss human trafficking prevention

Human trafficking prevention efforts would be strengthened by a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee March 4.

Introduced by Norfolk Sen. Jim Scheer, LB294 would:
• allow human trafficking victims to seek restitution for damages, deemed to be a minimum of $150,000, plus attorney fees and costs associated with a civil action;
• increase penalties for solicitation of prostitution, pandering and keeping a house of prostitution;
• permit search warrants and subpoenas to be issued for entities located outside of Nebraska;
• allow juvenile courts to maintain jurisdiction over juvenile victims;
• define offenders’ property that would be subject to forfeiture; and
• require all forfeited assets be deposited in a victim assistance fund.

Scheer said Nebraska has the least stringent penalties for human trafficking compared to all of its neighboring states. The bill sends a strict message of intolerance, he said, by addressing all facets of trafficking’s exploitative business model. Nebraska should not be a safe haven in the region for traffickers, he said.

“LB294 is really designed to decrease the profitability and increase the risk of engaging in this criminal enterprise,” Scheer said.

Weysan Dun, a retired FBI special agent and member of the governor’s task force on human trafficking, testified in support of the bill. Human trafficking is a problem in Nebraska, he said, but its victims are in too vulnerable a position to attempt escape.

“Human trafficking is vastly underreported because its victims … are often completely dependent on the criminals who victimize them for even the most basic necessities of life,” Dun said.

Amber Schlote, a detective with the Omaha Police Department, also spoke in favor of the bill, saying human trafficking is the nation’s second fastest growing criminal enterprise behind sales of illegal narcotics. People can be sold thousands of times, she said, with pimps earning up to $1 million annually.

“Money is the driver of this business,” Schlote said.

Allowing courts to detain victims would give law enforcement time to determine what services would best suit them, she said. Under current statute, she said, every child that law enforcement has placed in out-of-home care has run away.

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson also supported the bill, calling it a first step toward stopping organized crime and providing services for its victims. Stronger penalties and forfeiture programs would provide law enforcement the tools needed for a strong start, he said.

“The first people we have to get by the neck are the guys that would do this type of business,” Peterson said.

Thomas Strigenz of the Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association testified in opposition to the bill. Without treatment programs in place, he said, juvenile courts have no place to send human trafficking victims for rehabilitation. Additionally, he said, allocating money from fines and forfeitures to specific government programs rather than to education, as is now mandated, may be unconstitutional.

Juliet Summers of Voices for Children offered neutral testimony, saying the measure should more clearly define how victims of human trafficking would be viewed by the juvenile justice system.

“Labeling victims as delinquents is not the right way to protect them,” she said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.