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Human Trafficking Crimes in Southern Illinois
Human trafficking wasn’t always a crime. Before human trafficking laws were passed at the turn of the millennium, prosecutors used federal kidnapping, slavery, and involuntary servitude laws to pursue cases against human traffickers.
In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed a statute outlawing human trafficking at the federal level. Many states, including Illinois, followed soon thereafter.
Human trafficking is different from kidnapping. With kidnapping, the victim is taken without their consent, or if they’re a minor, without the consent of a parent or guardian. Human trafficking can occur without kidnapping because the victim may willingly go with the trafficker. In other words, kidnapping charges apply based on how the victim is acquired.
By contrast, trafficking refers to the events after the victim’s acquisition. “Trafficking” means the person was exploited or treated as a commodity to be used or traded. Some traffickers focus on exploiting the victim for labor. For example, they may be forced or coerced into working in a factory or on a farm.
Human sex trafficking, on the other hand, exploits the victim sexually. The victim is forced or coerced into commercial sexual activity, providing sexual favors, or giving sexually explicit performances.
Illinois Statutes Covering Human Sex Trafficking and Related Offenses
Illinois recently amended its human trafficking statute. The current law outlines the following three offenses:
Involuntary Servitude
Involuntary servitude occurs when someone subjects, attempts to subject, or conspires to subject another person to involuntary labor. To qualify as a criminal offense, the accused’s actions must involve one of the following methods to maintain control over the victim:
- Use or threaten physical harm to any person
- Use or threaten physical restraint
- Use or threaten abuse of the law or legal processes
- Destroy, conceal, or confiscate an immigration document or government identification
- Intimidate
- Abuse a position of trust
- Provide or deprive a person of drugs or alcohol
- Exert financial control
- Cause the person to believe someone may suffer serious harm or physical restraint if they don’t perform the labor
Notably, the law defines the services the victim is required to perform to include commercial sexual activities and sexually explicit performances. Thus, someone who traffics a person for prostitution may face charges of involuntary servitude.
Involuntary Sexual Servitude of a Minor
This offense covers the trafficking of any person under 18 for commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of pornography. It specifically includes the following acts against the minor when they’re performed knowingly:
- Recruiting
- Enticing
- Harboring
- Transporting
- Providing
- Obtaining by any means
The statute doesn’t provide any safe harbor based on the age of the accused. Consequently, a 17-year-old could face charges of involuntary servitude of a minor by enticing another 17-year-old victim to make a sexually explicit video.
Trafficking in Persons
The final offense included in the state’s human trafficking statute is trafficking in persons. This crime occurs when someone participates in or benefits from involuntary servitude or the involuntary sexual servitude of a minor.
These acts must be performed knowingly. To this end, prosecutors must prove that the accused knew that the victim would be subjected to involuntary servitude.
Notably, this crime can be committed by a company. To secure a conviction, prosecutors must show that the company knowingly benefited from participating in a venture that engaged in involuntary servitude or involuntary sexual servitude of a minor.
Possible Defenses Against Human Sex Trafficking Charges in Southern Illinois
A skilled lawyer can employ many criminal defense strategies to combat your charges. Some of these strategies are intended to negate an element of the offense, thereby proving that you didn’t violate the law. Others are affirmative defenses that establish an excuse or reason for the legal violation.
Before getting into the possible defenses, it’s important to point out one argument that likely won’t work as a defense: Generally, you can’t defend yourself against charges of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor by stating that you didn’t know the victim’s age.
That being said, some of the defenses your attorney might use include the following:
Alibi
An alibi asserts that you couldn’t have been responsible for the alleged offense because you were somewhere else when it was committed.
For example, if you were accused of pressuring a trafficking victim into performing commercial sexual acts through threats of violence, you might point out that you were in a different state at the time the alleged victim was coerced.
Lack of Knowledge
Prosecutors must prove your knowledge and intent to obtain a conviction. If you were unaware of the trafficking operation, you lacked the required intent, even if you performed one of the prohibited activities.
Suppose that you recruited someone to an organization, but you weren’t aware that the organization engaged in human sex trafficking. You could use your lack of knowledge to defend yourself against trafficking charges.
Coercion or Duress
Coercion and duress are powerful defenses in human trafficking cases when the accused was also trafficked.
For instance, imagine that you were a trafficking victim accused of recruiting others to the enterprise. You could argue that the people running the operation forced you to lure minors to the group. Alternatively, your lawyer might claim that you acted under duress because you felt you had no other choice but to recruit others.
