Two years, nine arrests, 18 rescues, and a lot of different organizations. People were being trafficked in several Bay Area places, but most of them were in Santa Clara County. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office led a joint operation that caught the people involved.
“It shows what the future holds for HT (Human Trafficking Investigations) in this state,” said Patrick Vanier, the district attorney for Santa Clara County. “The organization in question was found through a proactive investigation.” Over the last two years, it was looked into in great detail. And it led to the naming of both the victims and the traffickers.
All nine of the accused traffickers from across California showed up in court on Tuesday. In this case, bail ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. The DA’s office says that six other suspects have been found to be involved, but they have not been caught yet. The arraignment was pushed back two weeks, and the lawyers for the suspects say they will fight the charges.
As Emilio Dorame-Martinez put it, “They’re shocked.” “They’re denying all the claims.” There are a lot of things that have already been talked about in this case that we need to go over again. Click here to go there. While you can enjoy the show, I doubt the government will be pleased with the many laws that will be broken.
The DA’s office says that two of the suspects were caught by San Jose police in 2021 and charged with running illegal brothels out of homes and apartments. They were freed on bail and are said to have continued the business while they were out there. It is said that the women were made to have sex for money at hotels in San Jose, Gilroy, Hayward, and San Leandro.
Investigators used cellphone wiretapping to find proof in 30,000 text messages and calls. This was the first time in Santa Clara County that this had happened in a case involving human trafficking.
“It provides independent corroboration for what the victims told us what happened to them,” he said. “And it takes the pressure off the victims, so they don’t have to be able to tell their story in court.” We have records of what happened to them, though, which we will play in the future.
Also Read: The Most Weird Laws in Florida That You May Have Already Broken
California Sex Trafficking Laws
- If you are found guilty of PC 236.1 human trafficking, the consequences will depend on which law you broke, but it is always a felony.
- If you are found guilty of Penal Code 236.1(a), which says that you took someone’s freedom with the intent to get them to work or do something for you, you could spend up to 12 years in jail and pay a fine of up to $500,000.
- You could get up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $500,000 if you are found guilty of Penal Code 236.1(b), which says taking someone’s freedom with the intent to pimp, pander, make child pornography, or demand money.
- Penal Code 290, California’s Sex Offender Registration Act, says that if you are found guilty, you must register as a sex offender for life.
- If you are found guilty of Penal Code 236.1(c), which says you got a minor to do commercial sex acts, you could spend five, eight, or twelve years in state jail, pay a fine of up to $500,000, and be registered as a sex offender for life.
- It is important to remember that CALCRIM 3184 Jury Instructions lists other factors that go into sentencing. You could get 15 years to life in jail if you used force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, or threats of harm against a minor.
- For every year you spent in jail, the sentence will go up by five, seven, or ten years if you hurt the minor seriously while you were trafficking people.
- If you have been convicted of Penal Code 236.1 human trafficking before, you could get an extra five years in state jail for each violation following the first one.