Pimping children may become a bit tougher in Maryland, as a bill that would toughen penalties for sex slavery and forced labor of minors passed its next-to-last hurdle in the House of Delegates on Monday.
The House Judiciary Committee ? a group of veteran legislators notoriously reluctant to pass new laws ? on Friday unanimously recommended approval of bill, marking the first time in three years that advocates won support from the committee?s hard-nosed chairman, Joseph Vallario.
The Senate has already approved the bill and it seems certain to become law, marking a major victory for those victimized by the sex trade, advocates said.
“While it has taken three sessions to make it happen, these important laws will give hundreds of children and women who are victims of sex trafficking a voice,” said Sidney Ann Ford, executive director of You Are Never Alone, an outreach center for prostitutes in Baltimore.
“I join with the many advocates and prosecutors who view this development as a very positive step towards eliminating modern-day slavery in Maryland,” City State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy said.
State Del. Jill Carter, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, was pleased that the committee approved the bill.
“The testimony was very compelling, and for once we were ahead of the problem, rather than waiting for it to get worse,” she said.
Key to this year?s passage, advocates say, were several case highlighted in a series of articles in The Examiner, including a 2002 case in which a mother “rented” four minors ? two boys and two girls under the age of 12 ? to a Baltimore County insurance salesman named Clifton Kimes for sex. Kimes pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sex abuse and received a 15-year sentence, but his crime would be a misdemeanor in Maryland had he simply pimped the children to someone else. Joyce Lombardi, head of an informal task force that pushed the legislation, considers the bill a good first step.
“Overall, the bill is a win. It makes sex trafficking of a minor a 25-year felony and amends the extortion law to explicitly include labor trafficking,” she said.
But Lombardi cautioned that more work needed to be done.
“It does not make coerced sex trafficking of an adult a felony; just for minors,” she said. “So if you force a woman into prostitution and live off her labor, it?s still a misdemeanor.”
The bill now moves to second reader in the House of Delegates, where advocates expect the measure to pass.
