Law Commons^™

Identifying victims of sex trafficking can be challenging for law enforcement. To determine how victims were identified in cases of sex trafficking that resulted in criminal charges, this study analyzed the records from prosecuted cases of sex trafficking to determine how the victims were identified. The analysis used primary documents, including police narratives, witness statements, indictments, plea bargains, and sentencing memoranda retrieved from the Superior Court and the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. Between 2009 and 2015, there were 22 cases of sex trafficking involving 38 traffickers. In these cases, at least 30 victims were identified. The public court …