Andrew Bailey pitches plan to establish human trafficking task force in Missouri statute

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has established a Counter Human Trafficking Taskforce aimed at providing assistance to local prosecutors looking to crack down on human trafficking.

Consisting of various representatives from government, law enforcement, victim advocacy groups, criminal justice and other sectors, the task force is a "force multiplier" for local agents taking on human traffickers and a way to provide training on the issue.

Bailey called on the Missouri General Assembly to codify the task force into law as a way to address human trafficking in the state.

"The sooner the legislation is passed, the sooner we can eradicate human trafficking and child trafficking here in Missouri once and for all," Bailey said at a news conference Thursday in Springfield.

During his time as Missouri Attorney General, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley had a similar task force to address issues of human trafficking, although highly publicized raids on more than a dozen Springfield massage parlors in 2017 produced little in the way of criminal charges.

Gov. Mike Parson said his budgetary recommendations included $1 million to increase awareness and education efforts on human trafficking warning signs and ways to take action. He said 60% of child sex trafficking victims are believed to have been part of the child welfare system at one point.

"Human trafficking is not just a law enforcement issue, and it's not just the prosecutor's issue, it is a community issue," he said. "We all have to play a role to help fight this issue."

Missouri human trafficking bills in the works

HB 1706, the bill aiming to establish the task force in state statute, has already received support in the Missouri House of Representatives. Currently, it is awaiting debate on the Senate floor, though it faces a tight deadline to pass this session. The bill also increases the age to 17 for victims' audio or video recorded testimony to be admitted into evidence and as a qualifying element on enticement of a child offense.

While the bill is sponsored by Rep. Jeff Myers, R-Warrenton, Rep. Ed Lewis, R-Moberly, who serves as the chair on the Missouri Statewide Council on Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children, joined Bailey and Parson at the news conference and noted the work of the council. He said that in 2023, Missouri had the fourth highest incident rate of human trafficking in the nation.

Lewis is sponsoring another bill, HB 1450, that in many ways overlaps with HB 1706 and would increase the penalties for patrons of human traffickers among other nuances in prosecuting human traffickers. However, his bill has not gained as much speed in the legislature.

More: Trial set for Missouri AG's Sunshine Law suit against Springfield Public Schools

Both Parson and Bailey blamed much of the large presence of human trafficking on the federal government's handling of the southern border. In February, up to 200 Missouri National Guard troopers and 22 Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers were activated to go to Texas to secure the border.

Bailey noted the state currently already has a lot of training programs that provide the necessary education to law enforcement and those in local communities, including a landlord engagement program that gives landlords the tools to recognize signs of illegal activity from places that could masquerade as legitimate businesses.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri AG wants human trafficking task force set into state law