SCR 1021, the proposed legislation that aims to give Arizona voters a chance to decide whether criminals who commit child sex trafficking should qualify for life in prison without being eligible for any chance of parole or release, passed in a House vote (31-27) on Monday.
SCR 1021 focuses on traffickers convicted of a class 2 felony and recently passed out of the Senate with the complete support of Republicans.
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Arizona State Representative Selina Bliss (R-Prescott) and Senator Shawnna LM Bolick (R-San Miguel) have joined forces to introduce legislation that addresses the “urgent need for stronger measures against individuals who engage in child sex trafficking.”
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A victim who was 14 when she was sex trafficked through the now-defunct website backpage.com is helping bring the site operators to justice. Testimony from Eryka Brewster, now 24, helped lead to a conviction of the former site’s CEO, Carl Ferrer, her pimp, and the ongoing prosecution against one of the site’s co-owners, Michael Lacey. Co-owner Jim Larkin, who was also being prosecuted, killed himself on August 1. Lacey and Larkin owned the Phoenix New Times for years, known for its scathing attacks on conservative Republicans.
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For good reasons the box office hit movie Sound of Freedom has brought in over $100 million as it tells the true story of undercover federal agent Timothy Ballard and his suspenseful mission to rescue children being sex trafficked in Colombia.
Central to the movie’s plot is the story of a bright-eyed, 11-year-old girl named Rocío, whose childhood innocence is quickly morphed into a nightmare of sexual exploitation when she is recruited into a child sex trafficking ring.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Mission America’s Aaron Spradlin in studio to explain the different types of child sex trafficking that occurs at state and national levels.
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An attorney for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had a prior relationship with a prosecutor who helped negotiate Epstein’s sweetheart deal, according to a person familiar with a full report on the investigation.
The Department of Justice released an executive summary of a report Thursday that found “poor judgement” but no “misconduct” in former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta decision to scrap an investigation into Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring through a Sept. 24, 2007 non-prosecution agreement.
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The Columbus Dispatch published an article casting a local “Save the Children” event as a Trojan Horse for “QAnon” beliefs. Before the event even takes place, the article depicts it as mobilization for potential violence by conspiracy theory supporters.
It is the latest in a growing trend with media to downplay or dismiss child sex-trafficking awareness events as covers for other, darker political intentions. QAnon is a conspiracy theory that President Trump is secretly battling powerful and wealthy Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
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