Knowledge is Power: Understanding Kentucky's Human Trafficking Laws
Note | 103 KY. L. J. ONLINE 5 | Apr. 24, 2015
Katie Smith[1]
Introduction
“Human trafficking”—these two words are increasingly onthe radar of political leaders, celebrities, and average citizens across the nation. Over the past decade and a half, leaders and activist groups have begun to decry this “modern day slavery” as a growing evil that must be stopped; however, celebrities who speak out against trafficking or legislatures that unanimously push to pass bills condemning the practice often do little, in reality, to actually prosecute traffickers or to aid victims.[2] The state of Kentucky, however, is somewhat unique. Although it remains unrecognized by many, human trafficking does, in fact, exist in the Commonwealth. Instead of settling for mediocre laws that condemn the evil of trafficking but do little to combat it, the Kentucky legislature has passed some of the strongest legislation in the country to actually take a stand against sex and labor trafficking within our state’s borders.[3]In the spring of 2013, the Kentucky General Assembly successfully passed House Bill 3, the Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act (“HTVRA”).[4] The HTVRA builds upon Kentucky’s existing human trafficking legislation[5] and provides for increased protections for trafficking victims, stronger penalties and prison sentences for traffickers, training for law enforcement, and funding to help victims.[6] The HTVRA passed unanimously through both the Kentucky House and Senate, and its provisions are admirably proactive.[7] In fact, certain provisions of the law are among the most proactive in the country.[8] The passage of legislation, however, is just the beginning. Two years later, the HTVRA continues to be implemented on the ground level throughout the state, and, after early success, leaders expect the law’s effects to continue to be felt in the months and years ahead.[9]Although trafficking victims are often hidden in plain sight, anyone can identify a trafficking victim.[10] Therefore, as law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and the like become increasingly equipped to handle human trafficking cases, it is crucial that all Kentuckians—both lawyers and non-attorneys alike—also become familiar with the protections available to victims, as well as the penalties in place for perpetrators. In the fight against human trafficking, knowledge is power; this brief note, then, seeks to inform both practitioners and the general Commonwealth population of the state of human trafficking in Kentucky, so that everyone can stay informed and help the implementation of the HTVRA continue to succeed.Part I of this note will offer a brief explanation of the global problem of human trafficking and the current federal law on the issue. Part II will describe the trafficking problem specifically in Kentucky. Part III will then explain the recently implemented Kentucky law on human trafficking, walking through key provisions of the Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, explaining how these new provisions improve upon pre-existing Kentucky law, and describing why Kentucky’s law is unique among the legislation of other states. While much anti-trafficking legislation is toothless, expressive legislation unable to accomplish its goals,[11] Kentucky’s law has some real strengths. We, the lawyers and citizens of the Commonwealth, should now do our part in the fight against human trafficking, arming ourselves with knowledge and awareness and pushing for the continued implementation and support of the HTVRA.
Part I: The Human Trafficking Problem on the Global and Federal Levels
A. What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking, or trafficking in persons, essentially refers to the exploitation of an individual through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of either commercial sex or labor.[12] Sex trafficking is statutorily defined as “trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age,” while labor trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”[13]Accurate statistics, as well as a thorough understanding of the extent of the human trafficking problem across the globe, are elusive. Many organizations report that both sex and labor trafficking are increasing dramatically; other scholars note that this may not exactly be the case.[14] Regardless of the exact number of victims throughout the nation or the world, however, it is clear that human trafficking does exist, just about everywhere, in some capacity. And where it does exist, it can be extremely difficult to detect. There is a unique, largely psychological nature to the crime, and traffickers frequently—arguably, primarily—take advantage of vulnerable populations.[15] Many victims from these vulnerable populations are resistant to help from authorities, making it difficult for authorities to obtain information about the trafficking scheme that would aid prosecution and to provide victims with needed assistance and rehabilitation.[16]
B. Trafficking Law at the Federal Level
The United States is considered a Tier I country by the U.S. Department of State because our government fully complies with federally delineated minimum standards for human trafficking elimination.[17] Despite its Tier I status, the United States remains a source, transit, and destination country for both labor and sex trafficking.[18] One national advocacy group suggests that an estimated 100,000 children are victims of sex trafficking in the United States each year and that the aggregate number of child and adult sex and labor trafficking victims reaches well into the hundreds of thousands.[19]The main federal law on human trafficking is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPA”), which was passed in 2000.[20] Through the passage of the TVPA, Congress sought to combat trafficking in persons, to ensure punishment of traffickers, and to protect victims.[21] Congress updated and expanded the protections of the TVPA through the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act.[22] This federal legislation is crucial, but not all-sufficient, in the fight against trafficking. Federal trafficking legislation has often proved ineffective, or at least limited, at the local level, and the federal government itself has called upon states to act to fill in the gaps of existing federal efforts.[23]States have responded to the federal government’s call, but the success of state anti-trafficking efforts has not been immediate. After the passage of the 2000 TVPA, many states— including Kentucky—jumped at the chance to pass emotionally charged, bipartisan legislation that would criminalize and condemn trafficking.[24] These early state efforts were admirable; however, ample evidence shows that these bipartisan acts tended to be merely expressive legislation that were rarely as effective as hoped.[25] Since the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act, proactive states across the nation are in the process of updating their trafficking laws to make them more effective. Kentucky is one of those states that has passed a second round of legislation.
Part II: The Human Trafficking Problem in Kentucky
Just like the United States on the whole, Kentucky is described by government reports to be a source, transit, and destination state for human trafficking.[26] Throughout Kentucky, there is no single face of a trafficker. Kentucky traffickers to date include, among others, a woman forcing another to work as her maid;[27] parents selling their two daughters for sex;[28] and pimps setting up prostitution rings during Keeneland meets and the Kentucky Derby, advertising women and possibly children as “fillies” for men to pay to sleep with.[29] Similarly, there is no single face of a Kentucky trafficking victim. While some victims are trafficked in to Kentucky from surrounding states or other countries,[30] trafficking does not always involve transportation across a border.[31] Recent statistics indicate that 35% of victims in Kentucky were identified as foreign nationals, with 64% domestic victims. 59% of victims were identified as children and 41% adults, with 86% of all victims being female and 14% male.[32] Trafficking may seem like an evil that only exists far away or in the shadows, but average Kentuckians can easily encounter it. A quick Google search for “escorts in Eastern Kentucky” reveals numerous websites advertising women all over the state; any woman advertised as twenty-four or younger is likely a minor and a trafficking victim.[33] Further, traffickers consistently target vulnerable populations, and the demographics of the Commonwealth suggest that many Kentucky citizens themselves are at risk for becoming trafficking victims.[34]Compiling accurate information about the extent of human trafficking is a problem on the global, domestic, and state levels, so quantifying the number of human trafficking cases in Kentucky has been no small task.[35] A crucial starting step in understanding the extent of human trafficking in Kentucky came in 2007 thanks to Dr. TK Logan, a University of Kentucky professor.[36] Logan’s study, released in July 2007, provided Kentucky with one of the first quantitative measures of its human trafficking problem.[37]In response to growing awareness of existing trafficking problems, Kentucky adopted its first human trafficking legislation in 2007.[38] Kentucky was the twenty-eighth state in the nation to pass an anti-trafficking law.[39] This legislation, Senate Bill 43, made participation in human trafficking a felony offense and provided certain protections for trafficking victims, such as freedom from incarceration, the right to counseling, and the right to an interpreter.[40] Passage of the 2007 legislation was a success. However, Kentucky legislators soon realized the law lacked the teeth needed to actually combat trafficking. Many people claimed that, among other problems, law enforcement lacked adequate training to handle the crimes the 2007 legislation set out to establish.[41] Overall, the 2007 legislation helped get human trafficking on the Commonwealth’s radar but remained little more than expressive legislation. Legal changes were clearly needed for Kentucky to actually combat the sex and labor trafficking within our state.In response to the recognized shortcomings of the 2007 legislation, human trafficking victims’ rights advocates and legislators joined together to push for the passage of House Bill 3, the Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, in the spring of 2013.[42] The HTVRA successfully passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by Governor Beshear that March.[43] The HTVRA saw early success and continues to be implemented on the ground level throughout the state.[44] To keep up this positive trajectory, each and every Kentuckian should be informed on the basic structure of the state’s human trafficking law, particularly on a few key provisions of the HTVRA.
Part III: Understanding the Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act
While the HTVRA made various changes to existing civil and criminal statutes and has a wide range of implications for human trafficking law in Kentucky, the Act can essentially be described as having four main components. The Act (1) mandates human trafficking education for law enforcement and prosecutors likely to encounter trafficking; (2) calls for trauma-informed care for victims and establishes a specific victim’s assistance fund; (3) creates new financial disincentives for traffickers; and (4) establishes a uniquely comprehensive safe harbor law to ensure victims are given treatment rather than jail time.[45] Having a basic grasp on these four provisions and continuing to push for their implementation can help us as the collective Commonwealth of Kentucky see a decrease in the evils of human trafficking throughout our state.
A. Training and Education for Trafficking Identifiers
A first key provision of the HTVRA focuses on increased education about the existence of human trafficking and victim identification. The HTVRA requires that those most likely to encounter trafficking cases and victims be given specific training regarding trafficking.[46] Prior to the HTVRA, Kentucky law enforcement officials already received specific training for situations involving abuse against the elderly, domestic violence and child abuse, HIV/AIDS, and bias-related crime.[47] Now after the HTVRA, law enforcement officers will be given specific training regarding the characteristics and dynamics of human trafficking and will be instructed in both state and federal trafficking law.[48] Law enforcement will also be trained to investigate potential trafficking cases, with instruction regarding how to screen potential trafficking victims and what resources are available to those victims.[49] The HTVRA further calls for the Attorney General to provide similar training for Commonwealth’s attorneys, county attorneys, and their staffs.[50] These “educational provisions” are designed to ensure that those people in Kentucky most likely to encounter trafficking are able to successfully recognize the crime when they see it. Ideally, these provisions will contribute to an increase in positive identification of traffickers, so that they can be prosecuted for their crimes, and of victims, so that they can be treated according to their specific trauma and needs.
B. Trauma-Informed Care for Victims
Another main emphasis of the HTVRA is trauma-informed care for victims. Victims of human trafficking undergo particular psychological and emotional harm that is distinct from the harm many other crime victims experience.[51] Many believe that, in order to bring holistic healing to human trafficking victims, they must be treated specifically as trafficking victims rather than victims of other forms of abuse or neglect.[52] Accordingly, the HTVRA establishes the Human Trafficking Victims Fund to provide better trauma-informed care. The Fund is to be comprised in part of monies from grants, contributions, and donations.[53] It will also be made up of monies collected as a result of successful state trafficking prosecutions—a portion of all assets seized and forfeited from traffickers will go to the Fund,[54] as well as a $10,000 fee that all trafficking convicts must now pay into the Fund.[55] Often, anti-trafficking legislation does not provide any financial support for achieving its desired outcomes;[56] the HTVRA, however, does provide a mechanism for financially achieving the goal of treating victims—and treating them in the ways they need to be treated—through this Victims Fund.[57]
C. Financial Disincentives for Traffickers
A third emphasis of the HTVRA is the financial disincentives it creates for traffickers through its newly imposed $10,000 fine and asset forfeiture provision. The HTVRA allows law enforcement to seize the assets of traffickers used in connection with the trafficking offense. All property used in connection with or acquired from trafficking will be seized, forfeited, and distributed among the Human Trafficking Victims Fund, the related law enforcement agency, and the attorney’s office responsible for handling the forfeiture.[58] Also, all convicted traffickers must now automatically pay $10,000 into the Victims Fund, regardless of any other charges or fines involved with their convictions.[59]Ideally, these provisions will be a financial disincentive for traffickers above and beyond the disincentive of potential convictions. The $10,000 fee that traffickers must pay into the victims’ assistance fund upon conviction is no small sum. This fee may be little deterrence to a powerful pimp leading multiple, well-established prostitution rings, but it may deter an individual who engages in trafficking simply for a little extra cash.[60] The asset seizure provision, on the other hand, should deter both the small-scale and the large-scale trafficker. Individuals with no history of trafficking who operate out of their homes may not want to risk their homes, and traffickers exploiting on a larger scale would, in turn, have larger amounts of property subject to seizure and forfeiture. The value of forfeitable property – defined as “all property used in connection with or acquired as a result of . . .” the trafficking – could be quite large for any one trafficker, making this HTVRA provision a notable financial disincentive for all potential traffickers.[61]Importantly, these financial disincentive provisions will also help maintain the Human Trafficking Victims Fund, so that victims can receive the trauma-informed treatment that they need.[62]
D. Safe Harbor Protection for Minors
While the HTVRA involves various additional changes to Kentucky law,[63] a final and particularly crucial piece of the legislation is its safe harbor provision, designed to ensure that human trafficking victims are in fact treated as victims rather than criminals. While federal law recognizes the prostitution of a child as human trafficking, many states still do not have legal protections for minor victims; in such states, child victims are often treated as “criminals or delinquents.”[64] Leading anti-trafficking advocates recognize this as an important problem and have called on states to pass so-called “safe harbor” bills, legislation protecting minor victims from criminal charges.[65] Kentucky’s HTVRA includes a comprehensive safe harbor provision. The law prohibits prosecution of anyone under the age of eighteen for prostitution or loitering for prostitution.[66] The law also ensures that victims will not be charged with any status offenses, such as runaway or truancy, related to their trafficking.[67] At the time of its passage, this provision was the most protective safe harbor law of any state in the United States.[68]
Part IV: Conclusion
Although determining the extent of sex and labor trafficking throughout Kentucky is difficult, human trafficking clearly exists throughout the Commonwealth, sometimes in the shadows of a private household[69] and sometimes right in the midst of the public spotlight at Keeneland or at Churchill Downs.[70] Kentucky is in a good place, however, in the global fight against human trafficking. Where Kentucky’s original anti-trafficking legislation was too weak to effectuate actual results, the HTVRA contains comprehensive provisions and fundraising mechanisms that bode well for the law’s continued success. Both lawyers and non-lawyers alike throughout the Commonwealth help ensure the success of the law by staying informed. Understanding some general information about trafficking in Kentucky as well as the key provisions of the HTVRA is one small step we can take to help protect all people within our state’s borders from sex and labor slavery.
[1] University of Kentucky College of Law, J.D. May 2015.
[2] See Dina Haynes, When Human Trafficking Becomes a Cause Celebre, Open Democracy (Oct. 6, 2014), https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/dina-haynes/when-human-traff… (explaining the drawbacks of celebrity trafficking activism); Priscila A. Rocha, Our Backyard Slave Trade: The Result of Ohio’s Failure to Enact Comprehensive State-Level Human Sex-Trafficking Legislation, 25 J.L. & Health 381, 407 (2012) (explaining how human-rights legislation that is quickly and emotionally passed with bipartisan support often succeeds in criminalizing a particular abuse but lacks a real plan for funding and implementation).
[3] Polaris Project, 2013 Analysis of State Human Trafficking Laws 1-3 (2013), available at http://www.polarisproject.org/storage/2013-Analysis-Category-6-Safe-Harb… (noting that Kentucky is one of twelve states that comply with the full recommendations for the safe harbor and that Kentucky also has a funding provision in place, allowing it to serve as a model for other states).
[4] Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, 2013 Ky. Acts 25, available at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/13rs/HB3.htm.
[5] See Ky. Justice & Safety Ctr., Human Trafficking in the Commonwealth of Kentucky 8 (2007), available athttp://justice.ky.gov/Documents/Statistical%20Analysis/HumanTrafficking2.
[6] See, e.g., Press Release, Governor Steve Beshear’s Commc’ns Office, Governor Beshear Signs Human Trafficking Bill (Mar. 26, 2013), available athttp://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/governor/20130326hb3.htm.
[7] See Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, 2013 Ky. Acts 25.
[8] See Analysis of State Human Trafficking Laws, supra note 3, at 1-3. See also discussion of the HTVRA’s safe harbor, infra Part III.B.
[9] See Rescue & Restore, Module 003 LAW, https://vimeo.com/99576107.
[10] Ky. Rescue & Restore Coal., Identifying Victims of Human Trafficking Fact Sheet 1 (“Everyone can play a role in identifying victims of human trafficking . . . One chance encounter could be a victim’s best hope for rescue.”), available at http://www.rescueandrestoreky.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/KY-Rescue-R.
[11] For an explanation of the problem of expressive human trafficking legislation, see Mark Sidel, Richard B. Lillich Memorial Lecture: New Directions in the Struggle Against Human Trafficking, 17 J. Transnat’l L. & Pol’y 187, 201-03 (2008); Rocha, supra note 2, at 440.
[12] Gretchen M. Hunt, Human Trafficking: A Primer for Kentucky Lawyers, Bench & Bar, July 2009, at 17.
[13] Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1589-1594, 22 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7110 (West, Westlaw through P.L. 113-182). See also U.S. Dep’t of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 8 (2013) (Introductory Material) [hereinafter “Trafficking Report Introductory Material”], available athttp://www.state.gov/documents/organization/210737.pdf.
[14] See Ronald Weitzer, Sex Trafficking and the Sex Industry: The Need for Evidence-Based Theory and Legislation, 101 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 1337, 1347-1356 (2012).
[15] See, e.g., Rescue & Restore, Module 003 LAW, https://vimeo.com/99576107.
[16] Trafficking Report Introductory Material, supra note 13, at 8-9.
[17] The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, supra note 13, sets forth federal standards for the elimination of human trafficking. The United States meets Tier I standards, but trafficking throughout the country still exists. U.S. Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 44, 381 (2013) (Country Narratives T-Z) [hereinafter “Trafficking Report Country Narratives”], available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/210742.pdf.
[18] Id. at 381.
[19] Polaris Project, Human Trafficking, http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/overview (last visited Apr. 16, 2015). But see Weitzer, supra note 14 (explaining that many advocacy organizations’ statistics appear inflated).
[20] Polaris Project, Human Trafficking Cheat Sheet 1 (2012); Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1589-1594, 22 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7110 (West, Westlaw through P.L. 113-182).
[21] 22 U.S.C. § 7101 (West, Westlaw through P.L. 113-296).
[22] William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-457, 122 Stat. 5044 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 22 U.S.C.).
[23] Rocha, supra note 2, at 428-30. See also Stephanie L. Mariconda, Breaking the Chains: Combating Trafficking at the State Level, 29 B.C. Third World L.J. 151, 174-77 (2009).
[24] Rocha, supra note 2, at 441.
[25] Mark Sidel, Richard B. Lillich Memorial Lecture: New Directions in the Struggle Against Human Trafficking, 17 J. Transnat’l L. & Pol’y 187, 201-03 (2008).
[26] Trafficking Report Country Narratives, supra note 17, at 381; Ky. Justice & Safety Ctr., supra note 5, at 10.
[27] Maria Castellanos & Gretchen Hunt, Family Court Presentation: Human Trafficking in Kentucky 45 (2013).
[28] Castellanos & Hunt, supra note 27, at 49.
[29] Joe Arnold, LMPD: Prostitution Triples, Sex Trafficking a Concern at Derby Time, WHAS11 Louisville (Apr. 29, 2013, 11:11 PM EDT), http://www.whas11.com/story/news/local/2014/10/14/15755392/.
[30] Kentucky Rescue & Restore Coalition, Victims of Human Trafficking March 2014 Fact Sheet 1 (2014) [hereinafter March 2014 Fact Sheet], available athttp://www.rescueandrestoreky.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/KY-Rescue-R.
[31] Polaris Project, Human Trafficking Cheat Sheet 1 (2012). Human trafficking and human smuggling are two different things. Smuggling involves an individual paying a fee to willingly be transported illegally across the United States border. Human trafficking may begin with a smuggling situation; an individual may pay to be transported into the United States, and, upon arrival, the smuggler may hold the individual captive or require him to work. But human trafficking does not require that an individual cross a border or that any movement take place at all. Hunt, supra note 12, at 18.
[32] March 2014 Fact Sheet, supra note 30, at 1.
[33] See Jack Latta, Conference on Human Trafficking Opens Eyes, The Floyd County Times, (July 18, 2013, 7:19 PM), http://www.floydcountytimes.com/view/full_story/20762482/article-confere.
[34] Castellanos & Hunt, supra note 27, at 10. For general information about poverty in Kentucky, see Valarie Honeycutt Spears & Linda J. Johnson, Kentucky’s 2012 Poverty Rate Increased to 19.4 Percent, Lexington Herald-Leader (Sept. 19, 2013), http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/19/2831627/kentuckys-2012-poverty-rate-i…. The Commonwealth’s overall poverty rate increased from 17.6% in 2011 to 18.3 in 2012, and child poverty increased from 23.5% in 2008 to 26.5% in 2012.
[35] Human trafficking can be extremely difficult to detect, largely because of the unique nature of the crime. Traffickers constantly adapt their tactics and take advantage of excluded, vulnerable populations. Many victims from these vulnerable populations are resistant to help from authorities, making it difficult for authorities to provide victims with needed assistance and rehabilitation and also difficult to obtain information about the trafficking scheme that could be useful for identification and prosecution. See Trafficking Report Introductory Material, supra note 13, at 8-9.
[36] See generally TK Logan, Human Trafficking in Kentucky (2007), available at http://www.cdar.uky.edu/coercivecontrol/docs/hands%20presentation%20fina…) (describing the existence of human trafficking in Kentucky via PowerPoint presentation on June 2007).
[37] Ky. Justice & Safety Ctr., supra note 5, at 12 (2007).
[38] Id. at 8.
[39] Id.
[40] Id.
[41] Rae Hodge, Human Trafficking by the Numbers, Louisville Cardinal (Jan. 23, 2013), http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2013/01/human-trafficking-numbers-kent.
[42] Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, 2013 Ky. Acts 25.
[43] See, e.g., Press Release, Governor Steve Beshear’s Commc’n Office, Governor Beshear Signs Human Trafficking Bill (Mar. 26, 2013), available athttp://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/governor/20130326hb3.htm.
[44] See, e.g., Rescue & Restore, Module 003 LAW (July 2014), https://vimeo.com/99576107; Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Report: Kentucky Authorities Investigated 20 Allegations of Child Human Trafficking, Lexington Herald-Leader (Dec. 8, 2013), http://www.kentucky.com/2013/12/08/2978313_report-kentucky-authorities-i.
[45] Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, 2013 Ky. Acts 25.
[46] Id.
[47] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15.334(1)(a)-(d) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[48] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15.334(1)(e) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[49] Id.
[50] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15.718(1) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[51] Ky. Rescue & Restore Coal., Identifying Victims of Human Trafficking Fact Sheet 2.
[52] See Polaris Project, Human Trafficking Legislative Issue Brief: Sex Trafficking of Minors and “Safe Harbor” 1, available athttp://www.polarisproject.org/storage/documents/policy_documents/model%2… (last visited Apr.. 17, 2015) (“Experienced practitioners have found that mainstream programs of the child abuse and neglect system routinely fail these children. The law should require specialized protection and recovery programs for child victims . . . .”).
[53] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.140(2) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[54] Id. See also Ky Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.150(1) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation) (articulating asset seizure and forfeiture). The HTVRA’s asset forfeiture provision will be explained in greater detail below. See infra Part III.C.
[55] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.130 (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[56] See Rocha, supra note 2, at 406-07.
[57] Because Kentucky’s anti-trafficking legislation has a funding mechanism, the Polaris Project advocacy group has indicated that Kentucky’s legislation serves as a good model for other states. See Analysis of State Human Trafficking Laws, supra note 3, at 1-3.
[58] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.150(2)(a)-(c) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[59] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.130 (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[60] In Hodgenville, Kentucky, in December 2010, a woman sold her fifteen year old foster daughter to a man “in exchange for money, and buying items for her house.” The case involved two human trafficking indictments that were later amended down. Castellanos & Hunt, supra note 27, at 48.
[61] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.150(1) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[62] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 529.150(2)(a) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[63] For a more detailed summary of the HTVRA, see Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, Summary of HB 3 Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act (2013), available at http://www.kasap.org/images/files/News/HouseBill%203_KentuckyHumanTraffi…. For a complete understanding of the 2013 legislation’s amendments to previous human trafficking law, see the legislation itself. Human Trafficking Victims Rights Act, 2013 Ky. Acts 25.
[64] Human Trafficking Legislative Issue Brief: Sex Trafficking of Minors and “Safe Harbor”, supra note 52 at 1.
[65] Id.
[66] Ky Rev. Stat. Ann. § 29.120(1) (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation); Castellanos & Hunt, supra note 27, at 27.
[67] Ky Rev. Stat. Ann. § 630.125 (West, Westlaw through 2014 legislation).
[68] New York was the first state to enact a safe harbor law in 2008. New York’s original watershed law guaranteed there could be no prosecution of anyone under the age of sixteen for prostitution; Kentucky’s law goes further to raise the age to eighteen and to prohibit prosecution for status offenses in addition to prostitution. SeeKaren Wigle Weiss, End Child Prostitution And Trafficking USA, A Review of the New York State Safe Harbor Law 2 (2013), available athttps://d2jug8yyubo3yl.cloudfront.net/26999B2F-7C10-4962-918C-E964709E74…. “Kentucky is the only state to ensure that all child victims of human trafficking are not charged with prostitution or status offenses committed in connection to being trafficked.” Commonwealth of KY. Cabinet for Health and Family Serv., Annual Report of Kentucky Child Victims of Human Trafficking 5 (2013), available at http://chfs.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E5D47613-6922-44C6-8B14-0668374ADD93/0/H.
[69] Castellanos & Hunt, supra note 27, at 45.
[70] Arnold, supra note 29.