A group of advocates for teenagers who’ve been sexually exploited is pushing for tougher penalties for the possession of child pornography. Terri Bailey is a counselor who works with runaways and kids in the foster care system who’ve been exploited by pimps.
“I think it would definitely, with a steeper penalty, deter people from creating these human trafficking rings if they knew they were instantly going to be slapped with a felony charge,” Bailey says.
Under current law, people caught for the first time with images of child pornography are charged with an aggravated misdemeanor. Those caught a second time are charged with a felony. The Iowa Foster Care Council’s “Achieving Maximum Potential” coalition — representing over 5000 Iowa kids — is pushing to make a first offense a felony. Bailey says the kids hope it will motivate more prosecutors to go after the pimps.
“When you’re on the streets and you don’t have anywhere to sleep or eat, these people — these pimps — come and approach them and say: ‘I’ll give you a nice play to stay. You know, I’ll take care of you.’ Then a couple of weeks, a month down the road (they say): ‘Now it’s time for you to pay me back,'” Bailey says. “So they pay back by being a prostitute.”
Bailey says teenage prostitutes often are pressured to appear in videos or pose for photographs. Bailey is working with a young woman who was a victim of human trafficking.
“She was approached in a Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids. I mean, you’d think Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids would be safe,” Bailey says. “She was 15 years old.”
According to Bailey, the average age of entry into prostitution is between 11 and 14 years old.
A bill that increases the penalty for a first offense of child pornography possession to a felony has cleared an initial hurdle in the Iowa House. Representative Chip Baltimore, a Republican from Boone, is the bill’s chief sponsor.
“I personally view possession of child pornography as a very serious offense,” Baltimore says, “and an aggravated misdemeanor, to me, seems to be somewhat out of line with the victimization of a child.”
The bill now must clear the House Judiciary Committee before it can be considered by the full House.