SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Wednesday joined Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and representatives from the California Department of Education, California Department of Social Services, California Teachers Association, and 3Strands Global Foundation to announce the implementation of Assembly Bill 1227, the Human Trafficking Prevention Education and Training Act (AB 1227).
AB 1227 was signed into law on October 7, 2017, making California the first state to adopt education and training for teachers and students to prevent human trafficking. Attorney General Becerra, joined by the California Department of Education, recently sent a letter to school districts outlining the new requirements under the law.
“Once again, California is first in the nation, this time when it comes to implementing education in our schools to prevent human trafficking. We owe many thanks to the civic and community leaders who made this day possible,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Here in California, we take the fight against human trafficking seriously. We know that education is key to keep our children out of the reach of labor or sex traffickers.”
“AB 1227 has made California a national and global leader in the fight against human trafficking,” said Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland). “By combatting human trafficking at the root with preventative education, we can not only identify students who are actively being trafficked, but also reduce the chances that other children could fall prey to buyers or traffickers.”
“In true California fashion, our state leadership has come together to create an innovative approach to attacking the problem of human trafficking,” said Ashlie Bryant, CEO and Co-Founder of 3Strands Global Foundation. “AB 1227 sets the stage for a first-of-its-kind, statewide prevention education program that helps teachers spot trafficking and empowers students to avoid victimization.”
Attorney General Becerra, the state’s chief law enforcement officer, has made combatting human trafficking a top priority. Earlier this month, he announced that CA DOJ special agents arrested a Sacramento woman for her alleged involvement in an international sex trafficking ring. Yun Escamilla was booked into the Sacramento County Jail on five counts of felony pandering.
In July, Attorney General Becerra filed 54 felony charges related to sex trafficking against Quinton Brown, Gerald Turner, and Mia McNeil, following a six-month investigation by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, LA Sheriff’s Department, LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, and the CA Department of Justice. In January, Brown and Turner pled guilty to multiple felony charges of sex trafficking of minors. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Brown is expected to serve a 28-year sentence, and Turner is expected to serve an 11-year sentence. The third defendant, Mia McNeil, is expected back in court on February 26.
In August of 2017, in a prosecution brought by the California Attorney General’s Office, the Sacramento County Superior Court denied certain motions to dismiss filed by the defendants in the Backpage.com case, thus allowing Attorney General Becerra to prosecute Carl Ferrer, James Larkin and Michael Lacey on 25 felony counts. The defendants are charged with money laundering and conspiracy utilizing Backpage.com as a multi-million-dollar online sex trafficking hub. A month later, in September, Attorney General Becerra traveled to Washington, DC, to testify before the US Senate to advance legislation that would support the efforts of state attorneys general to prosecute sex traffickers
4 comments
“….reduce the chances that other children could fall prey to buyers or traffickers.” That line I felt sick to my stomach. Why has this 3rd world problem become so visible in California today? Are we close to admitting California is nearing a 3rd world country image?
Because you can’t profit off poor women and kids the way you can off drugs you confiscate. Follow the $$$, it’s always been a problem (kinda ignorant/naive to think it’s limited to third world). If only their were full team raids on these slave houses the way we do grow/trap houses. Up until the 1980’s we didn’t even have a concrete national database on missing children, but we did on cars and even horses.
If you seriously believe this garbage that all backpage is just about children being trafficked then you are really as naive and as ignorant as the people trying to shove their morals down everyone’s throat. There are more adults that are over 21 on that website than children and backpage has NEVER wrote anyone’s ad. That is a load of bbullshit. And for your info there are some women out here doing it not because they are on drugs or are sluts, they are doing it to pay their bills and keep a roof over their head and at least with that kind of job your not in danger of some asshole trying to fire you every time you turn around and they do not have pimps either. The people trying to stop all this crap have no clue at all, they just want to call it child trafficking because they are stuck on moral control issues. Keep it up and this is what will happen. A lot of unsatisfied men who can’t get a normal woman to have sex with them will start grabbing random women off the street and raping them or worse and start doing whatever else they can think of like breaking into houses and raping etc. Pretty soon it will be illegal to have consensual sex or even play with yourself or look at porn. What are you going to do? Put the whole world in jail for sex?
Right.
If you seriously believe this garbage that all backpage is just about children being trafficked then you are really as naive and as ignorant as the people trying to shove their morals down everyone’s throat. There are more adults that are over 21 on that website than children and backpage has NEVER wrote anyone’s ad. That is a load of bbullshit. And for your info there are some women out here doing it not because they are on drugs or are sluts, they are doing it to pay their bills and keep a roof over their head and at least with that kind of job your not in danger of some asshole trying to fire you every time you turn around and they do not have pimps either. The people trying to stop all this crap have no clue at all, they just want to call it child trafficking because they are stuck on moral control issues. Keep it up and this is what will happen. A lot of unsatisfied men who can’t get a normal woman to have sex with them will start grabbing random women off the street and raping them or worse and start doing whatever else they can think of like breaking into houses and raping etc. Pretty soon it will be illegal to have consensual sex or even play with yourself or look at porn. What are you going to do? Put the whole world in jail for sex?
Right.
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