Proposition 313 will send child traffickers to prison for life, but what about those trapped in the ring?

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Voters approved several proposals, including House Bill 313, which would impose life sentences for convicted child sex traffickers. This significantly increases the mandatory sentence.

Voters support it, but legal experts say it will be important to make sure victims caught in the dangerous web are not sent to prison for life.

It’s not just brazen killers who will spend their lives in prison in Arizona; now they are also child sex traffickers.

“I think people looked at it and thought it was a good idea, and in theory, yes, it is a good idea,” said Jay Rademacher, a former Maricopa County prosecutor turned defense attorney.

Currently in Arizona, those convicted of sex trafficking of children under 15 years old face a minimum sentence of seven years.

This pillar now makes a conviction not only a life sentence, but also a period of ineligibility for parole.

Rademacher fears this could influence the leader of the sex ring, who will permanently silence the victims to prevent them from solving the crimes.

“What incentive does the pimp or John have now to keep their child alive?” Rademacher said.

He said this type of sentence is great for the leader of a sex trafficking ring, but it becomes restrictive when victims who become youths in the ring are forced to recruit other children, a helpless cycle for those trapped inside . .

Should they go to prison for life?

“There are a lot of situations where it can be applied to people who may not deserve such a harsh punishment, especially when that punishment is the same as for actually killing someone,” Rademacher said.

– First degree murder? asked crime reporter Briana Whitney.

“First-degree murder is capital murder,” Rademacher responded.

But former undercover Mesa police Detective Matt Browning has spent decades infiltrating sex trafficking rings and says investigators and prosecutors are working together to catch the man at the top and protect those who help them get there.

“The 21-year-old will not be sentenced to life imprisonment because she was forced, forced, to place her sister there because of threats made against her. They will take this 21-year-old girl and use her to catch bigger fish,” Browning said.

Browning said this often ends in a plea bargain that avoids trial altogether or, in some cases, gets the charges dropped.

“The main guys, the main traffickers? Yes, everything is ready. Life in prison. The people you destroyed and hurt will be used against you,” he said.

Browning said that in the years he has spent investigating this kind of child sex trafficking in religious cults and drug trafficking, he said the predators at the top calling the shots are unlikely to ever be able to rehabilitate a safer situation for everyone if they end up behind bars forever.

“They will not live a normal life after they have hurt, abused, molested and raped an underage girl or boy,” Browning said.

Rademacher said this increased sentence will not change anything in these cases: The burden of proof on prosecutors will remain the same, and discovery and trial will remain the same.

The only difference is that if convicted, the judge does not have discretion to impose a sentence; It’s straight to life in prison.

By comparison, that’s far more time than anyone convicted of 2nd degree murder.

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