Rep. Zach Dieken. (IA Legislature photo)
The Iowa legislature has unanimously voted to increase prison sentences for human trafficking in Iowa.
Representative Zach Dieken, a Republican from Granville, said the bill will dramatically change how human trafficking and sex trafficking is prosecuted in Iowa.
“These crimes and their victims deserve more than a simple misdemeanor pled down from a D felony,” Dieken said on March 9 when the bill passed the House on a 96-0 vote.
Republican Representative Mark Thompson of Clarion said Iowa has “anemic” sentences, forcing prosecution of major Iowa human trafficking cases into federal courts, which have a backlog.
“The scourge that is on Iowa right now is that we have this and it’s hidden and most of us don’t see it. Most of us, in some cases, don’t want to see it,” Thompson said. “It’s the crime that keeps on giving. You sell drugs, you smuggle drugs, that money’s gone. You smuggle a person, that person keeps providing money to the perpetrator.”
Dieken cited the rescue of a child during a western Iowa traffic stop in 2014 to illustrate the gravity of the problem. “The six year old boy was not related to anyone in the vehicle and thought he was being taken to his mother’s house in Las Vegas…There was a strong feeling and suspicion from all officers involved that this child was destined for a life in child labor or the sex industry,” Dieken said. “This trooper would receive a national award for this traffic stop. This happened in Council Bluffs, not in some far away land.”
Those convicted of trafficking anyone under the age of 18 could be sentenced to life in an Iowa prison once the bill becomes law. Representative Elinor Levin, a Democrat from Iowa City, said human trafficking is a serious offense. “I am not generally a big fan of increasing penalties, but this is a case in which I think the current standard does not match the crime,” Levin says.
The Senate approved the bill today on a 49-0 vote.
“This bill’s very important. Seems like most all the parties have agreed to what we’re trying to do here,” said Senator Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale who was the only senator to speak during senate consideration of the bill. “If you’re doing, engaging in any of these human trafficking, you’re going to pay the price.”
Attorney General Brenna Bird has expressed support for the bill and legislators expect Governor Reynolds to sign it into law. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Washington was the first state to criminalize human trafficking in 2003. In 2006, the Iowa legislature unanimously voted to make human trafficking a class D felony — which carries a fine of up to $7500 and a sentence of up to five years in prison.