Trafficker

But Ashley Morgan, director of the human trafficking unit at the Denver District Attorney’s Office, said mandatory prison sentences offer better protections for victims, noting that defendants often serve no more than half of their sentences before they are released.

“We have people getting out in under two years,” she said. “And that is terrifying for victims… Thoughtful judges understand the dynamics and sentence in the middle-to-higher part of the range. But if you look across the state as a whole, there are a lot of judges who don’t understand these complex dynamics, and it is concerning that people can get out almost immediately and go right back to harming that victim.”

Fear that victims will be prosecuted

Karbach worries that prosecutors will use the mandatory minimum prison sentences to pressure victims of human trafficking into cooperating with criminal investigations.

“That is usually a human trafficking victim who is put in second-in-command,” he said. “And it’s a deep second; they’re still very much subject to abuse and manipulation, but they often don’t have to continue to turn tricks if they’ll recruit girls and keep other girls in line… (Prosecutors) will tell them, we can seek 300 years against you in prison, or you can cooperate.”

Morgan said prosecutors recognize such people as victims and do not intend to prosecute them.

“We don’t want to go after victims,” she said. “And I’ve not seen prosecutors doing that. That’s a fear that is misguided.”

A recent amendment to the bill, which passed the state Senate and is now headed to the House, would stop prosecutors from pursuing criminal charges against anyone who can show they were forced or coerced into engaging in sex trafficking.

But Karbach said that amendment doesn’t fully protect victims, because the burden is on the victims to prove that defense.