When I first heard Indiana Deputy Attorney General David Miller talk about the need to fast-track legislation that would add child trafficking to the state’s sex offenses, I was baffled.
At the risk of sounding naïve, I didn’t understand the urgency in Miller’s argument: that the bill needed to be passed and signed into law before early February, when tens of thousands of sports fans will descend upon the state’s capital city for the 2012 Super Bowl.
Miller told me most of those fans will be law-abiding. But he also informed me that before the 2011 Super Bowl weekend in Dallas, it was the Texas Attorney General who described the party-filled spectacle — saturated with sex and alcohol — as “one of the biggest human trafficking events in the United States.”
The Texas AG’s fears mirrored the worries of Miami law enforcement before the Super Bowl was played there in 2010: an influx of underage prostitutes brought into the city to service an increased demand for commercial sex from tourists in town for the game.
Sounds incredibly sordid, doesn’t it? Almost like the story line for a fictional TV cop show.
But Miller’s boss, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, is taking the scenario seriously. He argues that current state law makes it a crime to solicit a child for sex, but doesn’t cover the organized exploitation of children by people who profit from the sale of sex with a minor. He’d like the Indiana legislature to change that, quickly, when it convenes again in January.
Last week Zoeller offered a glimpse of how child exploitation flourishes in the digital age. He joined with more than 40 attorneys general across the U.S. in a push to shut down the “escorts” section on backpage.com, an online advertising site where ads for prostitutes — including underage ones — have routinely appeared.
Zoeller co-signed a letter sent to backpage.com’s attorney, calling the site “a hub” for prostitution and human trafficking and challenging the company to come through on its promises to shut down the ads that offer or solicit sex with children.
The letter cites the May arrest of a Massachusetts man who advertised on backpage.com to solicit customers to have sex with a 15-year-old girl whom he forced into prostitution. The letter also says that backpage.com officials admit they identify more than 400 “adult services” posts every month that may involve minors.
Company officials point to their content policy, aimed at preventing child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, but Zoeller and his colleagues don’t think they’ve done nearly enough. They note in their letter that the site makes an estimated $22.7 million annually from ads posted in its escorts section.
You’d think there’d already be a law the state attorneys general could wield, but it’s not that simple. In 1996, Congress passed legislation aimed at protecting children from online abuse, but the law also gives Internet content providers, like backpage.com, broad immunity from liability for content posted by third parties — even the sick, sordid exploiters of children who appeal to the darkest desires of adults.
Maureen Hayden is Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI Indiana newspapers. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
Indiana Legislature
MAUREEN HAYDEN: Potential ‘Super’ problem awaits
- Indiana Legislature
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Court lets walk-out fines against House Democrats stand
INDIANAPOLIS — House Democrats who had to pay more than $100,000 in fines after they walked out of the Indiana Statehouse won’t get the help they sought from the Indiana Supreme Court.
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Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.
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Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to by state lawmakers.
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Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering forgiving $12 million in loans that “failing” charter schools accepted from the state.
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Indiana House set to vote on school safety grant plan
INDIANAPOLIS — A stripped-down proposal that would start a state grant program toward helping school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment is set to be voted on by Indiana legislators.
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Indiana Senate approves minimal voucher expansion
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate is signing off on a limited expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
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Group, bill promote natural gas fueling stations
INDIANAPOLIS — Natural gas advocates want to create incentives for building fueling stations across the state in hopes that more people will operate vehicles using alternative fuels.
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Senate OKs smaller tax cut than Pence wants
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be holding firm to his demand for a 10-percent income tax cut, despite some movement from Senate Republicans who are willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
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Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence says an income tax cut in the Indiana Senate’s proposed budget is a start but he’ll still push for the $500 million cut he has proposed.
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Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the Indiana Senate has come out against a proposal that would require all public schools in the state to have an employee armed with a loaded gun.
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House panel approves HIP expansion, strips grants
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana House panel has altered a plan that would use the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.
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Bill seeks in-state tuition for some immigrants
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering rolling back the state’s two-year-old immigration law so that illegal immigrants who were attending public colleges then would again be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
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Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A legislative committee has endorsed a proposal that would make Indiana clinics that provide only abortion drugs face the same requirements as clinics that perform surgical abortions.
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Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools would be prohibited from handling paycheck deductions for teachers union dues under a proposal endorsed by a Republican-led legislative committee.
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Bill advances shifting Indiana voucher oversight
INDIANAPOLIS — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.
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Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.
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Pence unhappy with GOP budget, Dems seek tax vote
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence is deriding House Republicans’ state budget plan that would replace his proposed tax cut with more spending on roads and education.
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Grants proposed to add police at Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers say they hope to improve security at schools around the state by offering grants toward hiring police officers and buying safety equipment.
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Indiana Sunday alcohol sales ban likely to remain
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales will likely continue for at least another year as a vote isn’t being scheduled on a bill to lift it.
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Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’
INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate panel has approved a bill that would make it a crime to take photographs or shoot footage at Indiana’s farms and businesses without the owner’s permission.
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Bill would give high-performing schools more flexibility
After focusing on failing schools in recent legislative sessions, some Indiana lawmakers say it’s time to reward high-performing schools with more money and more flexibility.
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Indiana Senate approves right to hunt, farm proposal
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana voters would decide in next year’s election whether to add the right to hunt, fish and farm to the state constitution under a proposal approved by state senators.
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Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers hoping to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday are facing opposition from liquor store owners, who worry the policy could put them out of business.
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Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
INDIANAPOLIS — School superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent’s or teacher’s license under a bill endorsed today by an Indiana House committee.
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Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana legislators are again trying to toughen state laws that prohibit businesses from selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and other nicknames.
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Cold medicines could face tighter Indiana limits
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana Senate committee has backed tougher limits on quantities consumers may buy of cold medications that can be used to make methamphetamine.
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Indiana senators seek new social networking ban
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Republican lawmakers are looking for a new way to keep registered sex offenders off social media one week after a federal appeals court found a previous ban unconstitutional.
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Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would shorten the time that school districts must hold onto vacant buildings in case a charter school operator wanted to move into the building.
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Indiana lawmakers don sneakers for anti-cancer effort
INDIANAPOLIS — Numerous Indiana lawmakers and staff members are wearing sneakers around the Statehouse as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer activity sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
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UPDATE: Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.
- More Indiana Legislature Headlines
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