Council set to boost penalties for soliciting sex workers
The Columbus City Council is poised to raise the penalties for the “johns” who purchase sex in the city, with stronger human-trafficking provisions expected to be voted on when it meets Monday evening.
The ordinance increases penalties for individuals who are found guilty of sexual exploitation, and will allocate those fines into a “Victims of Human Trafficking Fund” to supplement programs supporting victims.
Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. “Ohio
ranks 5th in cases of human trafficking by the National Human Trafficking Hotline, with Columbus representing the largest sex trafficking market in the state,” the proposed ordinance says.
The Sullivant Avenue corridor in the Hilltop and Franklinton neighborhoods was identified in The Dispatch’s awardwinning series “Suffering on Sullivant“as the center for prostitution arrests in the city. Many of the sex workers there do so for money to support drug addictions. That combination was identified as the biggest factor affecting the quality of life for residents along the corridor.
But it’s also a major problem to a lesser extent, in terms of arrests, in several other areas of the city.
Columbus deputy police chief Jennifer Knight told The Dispatch in December that those arrested in the city for soliciting a prostitute and purchasing sex, commonly referred to as “johns,” have historically faced few consequences for their actions even though they create the market for human trafficking.
The average penalty for the offense is $74 — about half of what a speeding ticket costs — and no jail time, Knight said. In addition, multiple offenses commonly don’t result in increased penalties, she said.
“(Stronger) penalties would absolutely demonstrate that the city of Columbus is serious about the issue,” Knight said. “We need to have a person fearful about driving into a neighborhood to pick up a prostitute.”
For a first-time offender, Knight proposed that the minimum fine be $300. She said she also would like like the offender to go to “John School,” a program that educates johns about the dangers of human trafficking.
Knight appears to be about to finally get her wish and that of other Columbus police officers and advocates for women caught in human trafficking.
According to a background report explaining the legislation before the City Council on Monday, the proposed ordinance would “disaggregate” the city’s current code offenses for buying and selling sex, establishing a sexual exploitation offense, while increasing the penalties imposed on individuals charged with purchasing sex. The fine money would be distributed to area agencies to support shelters, medical treatment, and counseling services for victims of human trafficking.
“While the stated penalty in Columbus City Code is a misdemeanor of the first degree, the penalty received by a john who is charged with solicitation in Columbus is typically minimal,” the report says.
Under the new ordinance, individuals charged with sexual exploitation could be subject to a minimum fine of $300 for their first offense. If within five years a person becomes a repeatoffender, the penalty increases to $550 and 10 days in jail for a second offense, and $800 and 15 days in jail for any subsequent offense.
“Individuals who purchase sex exploit the most vulnerable members of our community without any substantial consequences,” the background report says, adding that experts “identify significant penalties as a critical factor in changing behavior.”
The ordinance also recommends that first-time buyers of sex be required to attend an educational or therapeutic diversion program as part of their sentence, but that decision is up to the judge involved. wbush@gannett.com @Reporterbush