The Elements and Penalties of Human Trafficking Crimes

A crime attracting national attention over the past few years is human trafficking. Human and sex trafficking is a crime that can occur anywhere with anyone, in a variety of forms.

For example, in November 2021, a Delaware-based truck driver was arrested in Cocoa, Florida, and charged with six felony counts, including human trafficking, kidnapping, sexual battery, and aggravated assault with a firearm. The arrest affidavit stated that the victim expressed that she was looking for work as a prostitute in Delaware when she met 53-year-old Robert Jeffrey Johnson, Jr. After spending a few hours in the perpetrator’s Freightliner Cascadia, the woman wanted to go home.

According to the affidavit, when she told Johnson she wanted to leave, Johnson refused to let her leave and instead assaulted her. He hit her in the face, knocking out one of her teeth, and kept her in his truck. For eight months, he repeatedly raped her and threatened her at gunpoint. After observing Johnson’s password on his cellphone to unlock his screen, the woman saw her opportunity to escape and used Johnson’s cellphone to reach out to her mother for help in Puerto Rico.

Once Johnson became aware of the woman’s communication with her mother, he left the woman at the Flying J Truck Stop in Cocoa, Florida, but was later stopped and arrested by police after the woman identified the name of the trucking company.

What is human trafficking?

According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking is a crime that involves the use of coercion, force, or fraud to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide. Human trafficking is a crime that can happen in any community to people of any age, race, gender, or nationality. Human trafficking victims are coerced by some type of violence – whether it be psychological, physical, or sexual – to perform work under conditions that are comparable to slavery.

What types of methods are used to lure victims into human trafficking?

There are several coercive methods that traffickers use to maintain control of their victims. Traffickers can lure their victims in with the false promise of economic opportunities, use violence or threaten to use violence, withhold identification work authorization or travel documents, and pay very little for the victim’s work or pay nothing at all.

Traffickers may force victims to live in subpar conditions while performing work, like living in the same space with multiple people or living in a space with little to no working utilities. While victims are working or living in these subpar conditions, they are not allowed to speak to anyone alone or without the supervision of the traffickers. Traffickers even go so far as to coach victims on how to respond to police and other law enforcement officials.

What are the elements of human trafficking?

The elements of human trafficking include:

• The transportation, recruitment, harboring, or receipt of individuals
• The control of individuals through the use of force, coercion, fraud, or violence
• The exploitation of individuals, whether through sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, or similar practices

What are the different forms of human trafficking?

Human trafficking can take several forms. One of the most recognizable forms of human trafficking is slavery. Slavery is the status or condition of a person who is treated as the property of another person, household, or company. From the time of their capture, enslaved persons are deprived of basic human conditions, such as the right to leave whenever they want to, the right to refuse work, and the right to receive compensation for any work performed.

Another form of human trafficking is forced labor. Forced labor is work or service demanded from a person under the threat of penalty. Forced labor occurs when the person performing the service has not offered those services voluntarily. Similar to forced labor, human trafficking can happen in the form of labor trafficking.

Labor trafficking is the trafficking of individuals with the end goal of introducing individuals to forced labor. An example of labor trafficking would be enslaved workers on fishing vessels or workers in a sweatshop or restaurant.

What are domestic servitude and forced marriage?

Domestic servitude and forced marriage are other forms of human trafficking. Domestic servitude is a form of slavery that happens in households; this form of human trafficking affects mostly women and children. Domestic workers are brought into and transported within a country, all the while suffering abuse at the hands of their “employers.” Forced marriage is another form of human trafficking where full and free consent of both “spouses” does not exist.

What are the penalties for human trafficking?

Due to the global attention that has been cast on human trafficking, the penalties surrounding the crime become more severe each year. Under Tennessee state law, a conviction of human trafficking typically carries a penalty of a prison sentence of up to eight to 30 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Penalties are higher when the victim is younger. Further, a sex trafficking charge can also result in mandatory registration as a sex offender.

Why Tennessee is tough on human trafficking

Victims of human trafficking encounter issues such as language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and fear of law enforcement. Another factor that law enforcement officials must consider with human trafficking victims is the dependency the victim has on their alleged perpetrator. Traffickers often seize important documents that victims need to identify themselves, such as passports and other official documentation. Victims of human trafficking may be frightened that they will face deportation, in addition to any acts of violence by their traffickers.

The sex crime defense attorneys at The Law Offices of Adrian H. Altshuler & Associates have the knowledge and experience to represent you effectively if you face prosecution for a sexual offense. Call us today at 615-977-9370, or submit a contact form to schedule your free initial consultation. We proudly serve Franklin, Columbia, and Brentwood.