Our Opinion: Trafficking bill well-intended, but flawed

On Tuesday, Chiquita Tillman told Missouri lawmakers the story of being forced into sexual slavery at the age of 15, being beaten and raped by her pimps, and forced to be a drug courier and a credit card fraud perpetrator.

Eventually, the rural Missouri girl escaped from the predators who controlled her life.

She told her harrowing story as part of Sex Trafficking Awareness Day.

Some lawmakers are using such stories to push for a bill (HB 1526) to prevent children from being charged with prostitution and to require patrons of child prostitutes to register as sex offenders.

We have mixed feelings about the bill.

Anyone found guilty of patronizing child prostitution should be a registered sex offender. If some such convicts are legally able to avoid registering, we support that measure.

The second part of the bill would prevent children from being charged with prostitution. We question the need for this.

In many cases, like in Tillman's case, the "prostitute" is a child and a victim, not a criminal. But there are teenagers who commit crimes and should be prosecuted in the juvenile system. In some cases, they even should be tried as adults for their crimes, as the law allows.

This bill, on the other hand, seems to presume underage prostitutes are always the victims, with no culpability on their part.

Would we extend this philosophy to other crimes? It would be like saying that since there have been instances of adults coercing teens into committing murder, no teen can ever be prosecuted for murder.

Each case is different, and we pay prosecutors in part to determine if someone should be charged, and, if so, what the charge should be.

The bill essentially ties the hands of prosecutors and juvenile authorities, preventing them from performing a key part of their job: using discretion.

We believe the bill, at this point, is flawed. But, if anything, the bill is shining a light on what is becoming a big problem in our state.

Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, said Missouri has become a battleground for human trafficking. Other lawmakers have quoted the FBI as saying our state is a top destination for traffickers.

We encourage our state to continue to seek solutions to the increasing problem of human trafficking.