California lawmakers have introduced a new bill targeting buyers of child sex trafficking.
Under existing law, if a person purchases sex from a minor, the punishment is a minimum of two days in county jail and a fine of less than $10,000.
Senate Bill 1414 looks to bring harsher criminal penalties for buyers of child sex trafficking by increasing imprisonment to a minimum of 2-4 years in state prison and a fine of $25,000 or less, along with a sex offender registration.
"Which means a person convicted of this crime would be on the Megan’s Law website and you would be notified of who that person is and where they are living in your community," said Santa Barbara Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Karapetian.
Karapetian says California is known for high volumes of human trafficking and trafficking of children.
"And so this bill would help deter this type of behavior," she said.
Sally Cook, with Olive Crest’s Hope Refuge, works with minors who’ve survived sex trafficking and says going after the buyers of underage sex trafficking is essential to stopping the crime.
"It’s not just pimps and traffickers selling children, you have a buyer, this is big business, so if you’ve got a demand you’ve got someone willing to supply and that happens here in Santa Barbara," Cook said.
She says that imposing a harsher punishment will have a big impact on the number of children trafficked in Santa Barbara.
"We need a punishment that fits the crime, and that’s not a misdemeanor, it’s a felony," Cook said.
The bill is set for a hearing on April 16.
