Idaho senator proposes victim protection, clearing criminal records
Boise — An Idaho Senate committee introduced a bill Wednesday to assist victims of human trafficking and sex slavery to clean their criminal record and make it easier to adjust to a normal lifestyle.
“In Idaho there is human trafficking, both in the sex trade and in labor trafficking, and on occasion these victims do pick up criminal arrests and connections during the time they’re enslaved,” said Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, who proposed the bill.
The bill would add a new statute to Idaho Code, allowing former human trafficking victims to petition courts to expunge nonviolent criminal offenses and arrest records filed during their enslavement.
“When you pick up a drug conviction, even a misdemeanor, you’re ineligible for financial aid,” Rice said. “That means, when you get out or someone rescues you … we’ve now turned off the opportunity to go to school.”
He said the prospect of former victims being denied the opportunity to advance in school and in a career is saddening.
“This leaves victims unprotected, with the light at the end of the tunnel turned off,” Rice said.
Rice said the statute would provide the ability to sweep away crimes such as prostitution and drug offenses. The bill is similar to laws passed in several states, he said.
Rice said the captors of victims often supply them with illegal drugs until they are addicted. Sometimes the victims are even tattooed with their captor’s name, he said.
“When I was in grade school, I was taught slavery ended with the Civil War, and it’s not true,” Rice said. “Victims are moved in and out of the state, moved around to various states … It’s one of the ways criminal gangs make money.”
George Wood Jr. can be reached at [email protected]