On behalf of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, I write in support of your legislation SB 1414, which will make it a felony to solicit, agree to engage in, or engage in any act of commercial sex with a minor. SB 1414 will help strengthen protections for the thousands of minor victims who are purchased for sex.
California is a hot bed for human trafficking and consistently ranks number one in cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Human trafficking is among the world's fastest growing criminal enterprises and is estimated to be a $150 billion-a-year global industry. It is a form of modem slavery that profits from the exploitation of our most vulnerable populations. There is no such thing as a child receiving money from a grown adult and saying it's consensual sex. The reality is that these children, who are unable to consent to their own exploitation, are victims of sex trafficking.
SB 1414 will give a voice to the children who have suffered from this horrific abuse. California has failed to make the actions of the buyer of sex with a child a serious crime. It takes two criminals to commit the crime of child sex trafficking, a buyer and a seller. Buying sex from a child is a serious crime and should be a felony.
For all of the reasons stated above, we support SB 1414.
Sincerely,
Larry Micari, Chairman
Tulare County Board of Supervisors
Cc: Tulare County State Delegation, Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange