Lawmakers look to toughen human trafficking laws ahead of Super Bowl

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Thousands of fans and millions of dollars will flood into Indianapolis early next year, as Super Bowl 2012 takes center stage. But, the big game may also bring in something else: big-time criminals putting young girls up for sale.

It's happened before.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller (R) spoke about the problem during the National Association of Attorneys General conference in Chicago on Thursday.

"Working with law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Justice to educate the public about human trafficking is a priority in my administration and Indiana will benefit from the ideas and tactics shared by leaders from around the country during the panel discussion," Zoeller told the conference in prepared remarks.

It’s a priority that’s very suddenly taking on a new sense of urgency.

From seats to souvenirs, when the big game hit North Texas this year, lots of money changed hands. But there was something else on the market too, sold, quietly, underground: young girls working as underage prostitutes for high paying clients. Some were simply sold as "sex slaves."

The U.S. State Department estimates that as many as 12.3 million adults and children are victims of forced labor or prostitution worldwide, and for those plying the trade, the Super Bowl is big business.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told the Dallas News that the Super Bowl is "the biggest human trafficking event in the United States." In November 2010, he convened a task force to crack down on the problem in advance of the big game. The coalition of law enforcement personnel eventually made 133 separate human trafficking related arrests.

Abbott also cited statistics from a South Florida task force that estimated “tens of thousands” of people - most of them young girls - had been sold into the sex trade during Miami's Super Bowl in 2010.

Indianapolis City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn (R) serves on the board of “Purchased” - a local non-profit working to stop human trafficking.

“Certainly it's more prolific in other parts of the country - California, Texas, Florida - your border states. But we're not immune from it in Indiana. This is a crime that tends to follow large sporting events and conventions, and Indianapolis is a hot spot for those types of things," Vaughn said. "The Super Bowl is the world's most popular sporting event, but the reality of it is, human trafficking exists at any large sporting event. Here in Indianapolis, we host the 500, Brickyard 400, Final Fours and all kinds of highly attended events. Those are a draw, frankly, to those committing these types of crimes.”

But cracking down on the problem has proved to be difficult.

“There's been only one conviction for human trafficking in Indiana. It was very recent, here in Marion County,” Vaughn said. “It's rarely charged because it's so difficult to prove.”

A state Senate committee met Thursday to begin changing that. The Indiana Criminal Code Evaluation Commission is charged with overhauling the state’s entire criminal code over the next several years, and one of the first up will be sex crimes.

“The Super Bowl brings different problems because it's such a huge event,” said Sen. Randy Head (R-Logansport), a member of the commission’s sex crimes study group. “We've had reports from Miami and Dallas that prostitution - specifically organized prostitution rings - increased while the Super Bowl was in their cities. So, we're trying to look at this far in advance of the Super Bowl so we can deal with it before the problem arrives. Our current laws deal with prostitution one case at a time. So, it would be very difficult to take on or tackle a sophisticated ring or sophisticated online service that could come with the Super Bowl.”

They've already found lots of legal loopholes to close.

“A second problem is that in Miami, there were reports of underage girls being used as prostitutes and that they had come from out of the country and didn't have documentation. Our law says that if the girl is underage, that elevates the penalty. But if this person is from out of the country, there's no way to prove exactly what age they are. Therefore, the person organizing it would be subject to a much lesser crime,” Head said.

“With enough advanced notice, we can make a difference. If we pass a law but don't try to coordinate with anyone else, then it will just be words on a piece of paper,” Head added.

For Vaughn, that message needs to include backing from the public.

“One of the things we learned from Dallas is that the public awareness campaign on billboards and TV commercials was a deterrent,” he said. “We need to tell those criminals that we're out there watching it. You kill the supply, you kill the demand, you kill the threat.”

Lawmakers from both the Indiana House and Senate plan to study the issue through the summer. Bills from both chambers are likely to emerge early in the General Assembly’s spring session this January.