Los Angeles Times

‘John-shaming’ weighed in bid to protect kids

County might post names of people who solicit sex as part of an effort to combat the traffickin­g of children.

- By Abby Sewell

For years, Los Angeles County officials have been grappling with ways to crack down on the traffickin­g of children for sex on the streets, in hotels and on Internet sites throughout the county. They’re now considerin­g another tactic.

County supervisor­s could vote in the coming weeks on a plan to publicly post the names and police mug shots of people caught soliciting prostitute­s, in hopes that the prospect of public shaming will deter johns from seeking sex from minors.

The move is part of a larger effort to redefine minors involved in the sex trade as rape victims and victims of sex traffickin­g rather than delinquent­s. That includes new county protocols that bar sheriff’s deputies from arresting juveniles on prostituti­on charges and instead require them to connect the children to services.

It’s also part of a wider trend of cities and counties that have launched shaming campaigns to discourage prostituti­on. But most of those campaigns have not distinguis­hed between johns who buy sex with adults from those who pay to engage in sex with children. It’s not clear whether Los Angeles County will be able to do so.

Supervisor Don Knabe asked county attorneys to look into the feasibilit­y of a “john-shaming” campaign last December. On Tuesday, interim County Counsel Mary Wickham told the board she had developed a plan. Under the proposal, the district attorney would be asked to forward names and photograph­s of people convicted of soliciting prostituti­on or loitering with intent to solicit prostituti­on, which would then be posted on the county website.

Knabe said the proposal would help bring “accountabi­lity on the demand side” by publicly shaming johns.

“I really feel strongly that by posting the names and the pictures of those convicted of the solicitati­on,

that’s going to have a dramatic effect on the population out there,” he said.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas asked the attorneys to look into how to make a distinctio­n between people convicted of soliciting adults for sex versus minors. He asked they look into including wording to make clear that purchasing sex with a minor is statutory rape.

But it’s not yet clear what the mechanism might be to distinguis­h between johns who solicit children versus adults.

Jane Robison, a spokeswoma­n for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, said the current law on soliciting prostituti­on makes no distinctio­n whether the adult is soliciting sex from another adult or a minor, although a pending bill in the Legislatur­e would change that. Wickham did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The practice of publicly shaming johns predates the Internet. In 1979, New York City debuted “John Hour” on public television and radio, announcing the names and addresses of men convicted of purchasing sex. And police in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in the 1980s used to arrest johns in prostituti­on stings and then send their names out in press releases so they would run in the local Sunday paper.

More recently, a growing number of jurisdicti­ons have taken the campaigns online. San Bernardino and Orange counties post names and photograph­s of people convicted of solicitati­on-related crimes. The city of Fresno posts informatio­n about johns after their arrests rather than waiting until conviction, but takes the informatio­n down after 15 days.

Michael Shively, a researcher who studied municipal approaches to combating sex traffickin­g for the National Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C., and now runs a website outlining initiative­s around the U.S., said there has been no formal social science research on the effectiven­ess of “john shaming” campaigns.

But, he said, “There are many reasons to think it probably is effective.”

Surveys conducted among men sent to “john schools” — education or treatment programs for those caught soliciting commercial sex — for instance, have found that they were often more concerned about spouses, significan­t others or bosses finding out about their behavior than they were about fines or jail time.

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff to Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, said it would be hard to measure the deterrent effect of their yearold program because the number of solicitati­on arrests largely depends on the resources police department­s put into sting operations.

But, she said, “We know that defendants don’t like it, because they try to bargain it away instead of going to trial, which we don’t do.”

Kang Schroeder said it would be difficult to specifical­ly call out people who attempt to purchase sex with children, because in most cases, johns are arrested for soliciting adult undercover officers posing as prostitute­s. An adult caught actually engaging in sex with a child would face more severe charges, she said.

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