Seattle City Attorney Peter S. Holmes Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney (206) 684-8288 peter.holmes@seattle.gov September 26, 2017 Via Email Hon. Karen Donohue, Presiding Hon. Anita Crawford-Willis Hon. Adam Eisenberg Hon. Willie Gregory Hon. C. Kimi Kondo Hon. Ed McKenna Hon. Damon Shadid Seattle Municipal Court 600 Fifth Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Re: City Attorney’s Policy re: Sexual Exploitation Dear Honorable Seattle Municipal Court Judges, I write in response to public comments several of you have made recently expressing concern about my office’s charging policy for the offense of Sexual Exploitation. I understand some of you may be concerned about the effect of this policy on certain members of our community (particularly undocumented immigrants), and about the increase in Sexual Exploitation cases being tried, which has undoubtedly impacted the Court’s workload. I want to assure you I have given careful consideration to your comments. I also want to share with you some of the reasons I chose to adopt this policy. To avoid any appearance of ex parte communication, I am making this letter available to the public. In the past, like most jurisdictions, Seattle’s law enforcement efforts were largely focused on individuals selling sex. These efforts were met with limited success, however. The Seattle Police Department would arrest persons committing the offense of prostitution, and my office would charge them. But once released, those individuals would return to their pimps (and/or pimps and traffickers procured replacements), and the cycle would continue. As the old adage reminds us, insanity is repeating the same actions over and over, and expecting a different result. Prostitution is a demand-driven industry. As long as demand exists, pimps and traffickers will be incentivized to drive more vulnerable people into prostitution. Over the last decade, the law enforcement community has gained a greater understanding about SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 701 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 2050, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 FAX (206) 684-8284 TTY (206) 233-7206 an equal employment opportunity employer September 26, 2017 Page 2 prostitution-related crimes and how to effectively combat them. One of the key lessons we have learned is that prostitution is not, as some say, a “victimless crime.” Generally, the people being prostituted are the true victims. Many prostituted people have a history of sexual abuse, substance addiction, and severe poverty. Approximately 90% of prostituted people in Seattle are controlled by procurers through violence, threats of force, and the exploitation of their substance addictions. Prostituted people are regularly assaulted, raped, and murdered by their buyers. Targeting these individuals for prosecution, rather than those that are causing the harm (the buyers), is neither just nor effective. Many of these individuals come to the United States looking for a better life. However, this hope quickly fades once they arrive at the airport, and are met by individuals who take their documents, including their passports. These traffickers drive them to a brothel or into the custody of a pimp. By the time these women figure out what is going on, they often are being held against their will and told they owe their captors money, which can only be paid off by serving clients. Another large category of individuals in the sex trade are women like Alisa. Alisa was born and raised in Seattle. Like many individuals who are ultimately prostituted, Alisa was sexually abused as a young child. After being targeted by a pedophile who worked at her school, she dropped out of high school and began using sex to support herself. Alisa’s experience was characterized by violence and objectification. She spent many nights in cheap motel rooms waiting for her pimp to bring in a client. She remembers being strangled in an apartment in Belltown, waking up covered in bruises, enduring head and scalp injuries from buyers violently thrusting her head back by her hair, and meeting other prostituted women who were blind from traumatic brain injuries caused by buyers. These stories are not unique. Like 80-95% of people in prostitution, these individuals were controlled by a pimp through fear, threats, drugs, and coercion.1 No one can reasonably claim that the buyers who pay to have sex with these individuals, and others in their situation whether juveniles or adults, are engaged in a “victimless” crime. In fact, 92.2% of trafficked women report being subjected to physical violence by johns or pimps.2 Similarly, workplace homicide rates for women in prostitution are 51 times higher than the next most dangerous occupation for women.3 These people are victims, and they are re-victimized every day. Arresting and charging these victims will not stop See Donna M. Hughes et al., “The Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation” (Coal. Against Trafficking in Women 1999); Debra Boyer , “Survival Sex in King County, Helping Women Out” (King County, Washington, Women's Advisory Board & Northwest Resource Associates eds., The Bd. 1993). 1 Lederer, L. & Wetzel, C. (2014). “The Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking and Their Implications for Identifying Victims in Healthcare Facilities.” Annals of Health Law 23 (1): 61-91. 2 Potterat, J., Brewer, D., et al. (2004). “Mortality in Long-term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women.” American Journal of Epidemiology 159 (8): 778-85. 3 SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 701 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 2050, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 FAX (206) 684-8284 TTY (206) 233-7206 an equal employment opportunity employer September 26, 2017 Page 3 that cycle. Targeting our enforcement efforts against these vulnerable individuals is simply not an effective solution.4 A number of years ago, I began a concerted effort to find a better solution. I wanted to understand how to best implement policies and practices that would more effectively reduce the demand for commercial sex. I, along with other attorneys in my office, have dedicated considerable time and resources to researching this topic, attending conferences, meeting with community members, observing effective models in other cities, conferring with our colleagues in prosecutors’ offices throughout the region and nation, and talking with both buyers and sellers of sex. Ultimately, I decided to implement a “Nordic Model.” The Nordic Model, originally pioneered in Sweden, aims to criminalize the harm causing conduct – sex buying – and reduce sex trafficking by curtailing its root cause: demand for commercial sex. Before implementing this model, sex buyers in Seattle were often allowed to enter into a diversion agreement with the City without pleading guilty to the crime of sexual exploitation. Our statistics and research showed this was an ineffective solution. Diversion without a guilty plea did little to deter future criminal conduct or inhibit the demand for commercialized sex. In contrast, publicly available research shows that most sex buyers are deterred by the threat of some form of public disclosure of their activities. This disclosure has a profound deterrent upon recidivism, and knowledge of it can have a strong initial deterrent effect. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this public disclosure is to require a guilty plea—a public confession of guilt—entered on their criminal record. To implement the Nordic Model effectively, my office adopted a new charging policy for Sexual Exploitation offenses. Instead of routinely offering a no-plea diversion to first-time violators, those offenders without a criminal history remain eligible for a 12month deferred jail sentence, so long as they enter a plea of guilty. This is not an absolute, unwavering rule: exceptions may be granted if circumstances or evidentiary considerations warrant them. But, in most circumstances, absent individualized circumstances beyond just a lack of prior offenses, my office will not offer a diversion to offenders charged with Sexual Exploitation. This level of public disclosure is necessary to create the deterrent effect and to stem the demand for prostitution. Our policy is consistent with other jurisdictions. Both the King County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bellevue City Prosecutor, as a matter of general policy, will not offer diversion to first-time offenders. A consistent regional approach is important to ensure that Seattle does not become a “haven” for those who would seek to avoid more stringent policies in neighboring jurisdictions. 4 As you know, in January 2015, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted to change the name of the crime “patronizing a prostitute” to “sexual exploitation.” This change was predicated on a common desire to accurately describe the harm inherent in the commercial sex trade, to recognize that individuals in the sex trade are often a vulnerable and exploited population in the community, and to acknowledge that buyers create demand which perpetuates the existence of the market and continued exploitation. SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 701 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 2050, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 FAX (206) 684-8284 TTY (206) 233-7206 an equal employment opportunity employer September 26, 2017 Page 4 As I said at the outset of this letter, I am aware that this policy has an impact on the Court’s workload. I know each of you works faithfully and tirelessly to serve the citizens of Seattle, and to ensure the ends of justice are met. I also know your dockets are busy, and that the prospect of an increased number of trials or sentencings on your already-busy dockets causes significant burdens on you and the Court’s staff. I continue to believe that individuals charged with Sexual Exploitation should be required to enter a guilty plea as a condition of receiving a deferred sentence, because I believe strongly that my paramount duty as Seattle’s elected prosecutor is to protect victims like Alisa. But I am more than willing to engage in dialogue about how I can help to mitigate the effects of our policy on the Court’s docket. I welcome the opportunity to meet with you, individually or collectively, to further discuss my office’s policy and so I can better understand your concerns. Very truly yours, Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney cc: Mayor Burgess Chief O’Toole Council President Harrell Councilmember Herbold Councilmember Sawant Councilmember Johnson Councilmember Juarez Councilmember O’Brien Councilmember Bagshaw Councilmember González SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 701 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 2050, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 FAX (206) 684-8284 TTY (206) 233-7206 an equal employment opportunity employer