Trafficking bill signed into law

With Super Bowl XLVI less than a week away, Gov. Mitch Daniels sent a message to people traveling to downtown Indianapolis that human trafficking will not be tolerated.

On Monday, Gov. Daniels signed Senate Enrolled Act 4, a bill that will make it easier to prosecute and penalize individuals who engage in human trafficking.

“The message we send today is ‘don’t try it here.’ Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis is where this practice ends,” Daniels said in a press release.

In years past, human trafficking and child prostitution have posed a problem for Super Bowl host cities. Indiana lawmakers approved the bill, which is the first in the 2012 legislative session, in time for the 2012 Super Bowl, which will be held Feb. 5 in Indianapolis.

The bill heightens penalties for individuals participating in certain types of human trafficking to a Class A felony, which is punishable by 20 to 50 years, and eliminates loopholes in current legislation that allow some forms of human trafficking to go unprosecuted.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller was a key proponent of the bill. In summer 2011, Zoeller met with other attorney generals from around the United States in Chicago to talk about the issue of human trafficking and work to elevate and combat the issue in their home states. Zoeller came back to Indiana and reviewed the current human trafficking legislation, which inspired lawmakers to revise the current legislation.

“I'm very complimentary of the legislature for resolving their differences over the past few weeks to get this passed before the Super Bowl,” Zoeller said.

The new law also makes it a felony to sell or transfer custody of a child under the age of 16 for sexual conduct and grants prosecutors the ability to charge individuals who use force or fraud to promote sexual activity or the participation of children under the age of 16 in sexual activities, regardless of whether force was used or consent was given.

“I am grateful to the governor for his steadfast support of this bill,” Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, said in a press release. “It is an important problem this week because of the Super Bowl, but on an ongoing basis because of its extent across the country. Now we have a better tool to fight it because of the hard work of a lot of people, and that is a great thing.”

Rep. Greg Steurerwald, R-Danville, was the main sponsor in the House.

Zoeller said preparation for the increased threat of human trafficking started far before the legislation was passed. Cab drivers, motel and hotel owners, and restaurant workers in downtown Indianapolis have been trained to be on the lookout for illegal activity.

An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 men, women and children are trafficked illegally into the U.S. each year, according to the Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking.