Victims of trafficking in Idaho face coercion at every turn, both on streets and inside justice system

Editor’s note: As concerns astir activity trafficking escalate, 1 salient Idaho nonprofit is providing a shape of rescue that immoderate survivors opportunity leaves them trapped successful different rhythm of power and coercion, funded by questionable Medicaid billing. This is portion 3 of a three-part bid called “Savior Complex.” Read portion 1 here and portion 2 here.

(InvestigateWest) — Victims of trafficking successful Idaho look coercion astatine each turn, some connected nan streets and wrong nan justness system

The prime is ever nan same, though not ever explicit: Obey maine aliases spell to jail.

Jay, a subsister of quality trafficking successful Boise, said she’s faced this prime from traffickers who want power complete her body. From constabulary officers who want accusation astir her abusers. From judges who bid her to travel strict probation requirements. From work providers who make a surviving disconnected of survivors for illustration her.

It’s not an quiet threat.

When she stopped obeying her trafficker past twelvemonth — refusing to do his laundry, mow his lawn, bargain groceries aliases do his occupation for him — she said he planted narcotics successful her bedroom, knowing it would break her probation conditions. When a probation serviceman later recovered methamphetamine and marijuana successful her bedroom, a Boise constabulary serviceman arrested her connected felony and misdemeanor supplier charges, according to nan probable origin affidavit.

It didn’t matter that her probation notes identified her arsenic a quality trafficking victim, aliases that she’d been getting support from a section anti-trafficking statement since astatine slightest 2021 pinch her probation officer’s knowledge. She went to jail, and her trafficker faced nary consequences.

“That’s really it happens,” Jay said. “He sewage frightened that he was going to get arrested for trafficking. So he put maine successful jailhouse earlier they could put him successful jail.”

Jay, now 43, has been trafficked for activity and labour since she was 10 years old, she said. She’s spent nan past 5 years successful and retired of jailhouse and prison, for crimes involving supplier usage and possession that she and her anti-trafficking advocates opportunity her traffickers coerced her into committing. Fearing constabulary retaliation for speaking out, she asked to usage a thoroughfare sanction for this article.

Idaho’s nonaccomplishment to dainty Jay arsenic a unfortunate isn’t a fluke. It’s a strategy that Idaho, for illustration Texas and immoderate different tough-on-crime states, uses to conflict quality trafficking — successful effect, uncovering traffickers by first criminalizing their victims. Victims are arrested for crimes connected to their trafficking situations, typically involving supplier charges, and past interrogated astir their traffickers. It’s meant to support victims safe and ace down connected trafficking, but fewer traffickers person ever been prosecuted successful Idaho, moreover arsenic their victims are locked up for low-level crimes, according to authorities tribunal information and interviews pinch survivors, constabulary and advocates.

Some anti-trafficking advocates fearfulness this strategy is being reinforced by caller authorities laws passed successful 2023 and 2024 that intensify Idaho’s efforts to place traffickers done their victims. Police reason nan laws are basal to summation prosecutions of traffickers, particularly arsenic immoderate states pinch a little police-heavy attack person struggled to support traffickers away. In Washington and Oregon, for example, rule enforcement and authorities workers admit they person constricted expertise to clasp traffickers accountable moreover arsenic victims openly locomotion metropolis streets, InvestigateWest reported past year.

But Idaho’s attack besides comes pinch consequences for those it intends to help, quality trafficking and criminology experts say. Survivors, saddled pinch criminal records, apprehension warrants and strict probation conditions, tin go trapped wrong a justness strategy meant to protect them. It exposes them to conditions some successful jailhouse and retired that make them susceptible to further interaction pinch traffickers and diverts them to curen programs pinch small to nary regulatory oversight.

It leaves galore survivors emotion exploited each complete again.

“They’re not viewed arsenic victims,” said Jennifer Zielinski, head of nan Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition, a Boise-based nonprofit that advocates against quality trafficking and provides lawsuit management, services and resources for survivors.

Jennifer Zielinski, head of nan Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition, said nan state’s attack to trafficking leaves galore survivors emotion exploited each complete again. “They’re not viewed arsenic victims,” she said. | Kyle Green, InvestigateWest

Of much than 150 group served by nan conjugation past year, astir each had criminal records, Zielinski said.

“You tin spot nan quality successful nan strategy targeting them, and past utilizing their criminal grounds arsenic a measurement to power them and past fundamentally let maltreatment without moreover addressing nan truth that they’re victims,” she said.

It’s an attack that Zielinski and others opportunity Community Outreach Behavioral Services, aliases COBS — an statement for quality trafficking survivors that an InvestigateWest investigation revealed whitethorn beryllium committing fraud — relies on.

In 2020, COBS and nan U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched a task force successful Idaho to combat quality trafficking, contributing to accrued attraction connected nan issue. As task unit members place much victims successful nan state’s jails and courts, COBS has received a watercourse of caller clients, funneled into its safe houses. COBS laminitis Paula Barthelmess estimates astir half of nan women successful her programme are connected probation. Although Barthelmess promotes nan programme arsenic voluntary, survivors opportunity nan reality is that if they time off aliases break her strict rules, they could beryllium facing different arrest.

Idaho’s practices bespeak a mindset communal crossed nan state that survivors must beryllium “saved” by authorities who cognize what’s champion for them, moreover erstwhile nan survivors themselves disagree, anti-trafficking experts say.

“If they deliberation that arresting them and forcing them into a programme is going to beryllium what saves them astatine nan extremity of nan day, I haven’t seen nan grounds to show that,” said Meredith Dank, an subordinate professor pinch nan New York University Marron Institute of Urban Management who researches quality trafficking and exploitation. “For a batch of people, having that condemnation connected their record, having their names successful nan media, really does much harm than thing else.”

‘We do this to protect them’

For Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, there’s nary grey area erstwhile it comes to quality trafficking. It’s a “cancer,” a “crime that perpetuates untold misery,” an “absolute stain connected our communities,” Labrador has said.

It’s go a governmental drumbeat successful Idaho successful caller years, inspiring caller laws, nan creation of a criminal justness subcommittee, sting operations and moreover a state-funded mission sending authorities constabulary troopers to nan U.S.-Mexico separator to attraction connected nan issue.

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s agency has helped lawmakers trade authorities that increases penalties for quality traffickers, but fewer traffickers person been prosecuted moreover arsenic their victims are arrested. | Gage Skidmore photo

With quality trafficking nether a microscope, much cases are being identified. News headlines passim Idaho flashed a shocking statistic past twelvemonth — quality trafficking successful nan authorities spiked astir 300% from 2021 to 2022.

But nan spike was driven almost wholly by conscionable 1 agency: nan Nampa Police Department, which useful intimately pinch COBS to place quality trafficking survivors. In 2021, Idaho logged 4 quality trafficking offenses, each from nan Nampa Police Department, according to nan Idaho State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Program. In 2022, that changeable to 26, pinch 22 of those from Nampa police. (These numbers bespeak an moreover greater summation — a 550% summation versus nan 271% initially reported by nan media — because rule enforcement agencies person updated their information since past year, according to nan Uniform Crime Reporting Program.)

Jason Kimball, a Nampa constabulary lieutenant, said nan surge comes from nan department’s accrued efforts to find quality trafficking wrong different crimes.

“We started immoderate cases recognizing that they’re not conscionable astir acts of violence, arsenic acold arsenic home violence. They weren’t conscionable astir drugs. They weren’t conscionable astir gangs. They were a operation of each those things, and quality trafficking was astatine nan bosom of each of it,” Kimball said.

Yet Idaho had only 1 apprehension for quality trafficking nether authorities rule from 2019 to 2023, according to authorities constabulary data. Instead, victims often salary nan price, arrested for crimes that their traffickers unit them to commit. Idaho’s had astatine slightest 34 arrests and 46 charges for adultery since 2019, nan information shows, though it’s unclear really galore are straight related to trafficking.

Kimball acknowledged that trafficking victims successful Nampa are sometimes arrested for supplier possession and different crimes.

“Is that our intent? No. We don’t want to person that happen,” Kimball said. “Sometimes we do this to protect them. To get them disconnected nan streets and get them cleanable and sober, until nan constituent they tin make clear decisions and admit that their manner is not healthy.”

In 1 lawsuit successful 2023, a Nampa constabulary officer, aft searching and handcuffing a female pinch a warrant, identified her arsenic a imaginable trafficking victim, according to nan constabulary report. He brought her to nan constabulary department, wherever Barthelmess questioned her astir nan specifications of her exploitation and her history of supplier use. A detective past delivered news to nan woman: Her probation serviceman would let her to spell to a COBS safe location alternatively of jail.

The believe isn’t unsocial to Nampa. Research shows that constabulary passim nan state usage apprehension arsenic a maneuver to support trafficking victims safe and get them to cooperate pinch investigations. Various states besides usage criminal charges to compel trafficking survivors to get treatment, said Dank, nan subordinate professor astatine NYU.

New York, for example, launched a statewide Human Trafficking Intervention Court inaugural successful 2013, which created criminal diversion courts for group charged pinch prostitution-related offenses. It aimed to nexus victims pinch services, and it did truthful done nan apprehension and prosecution of these victims.

Research led by Dank successful 2017 recovered that victims successful New York City often faced consequences arsenic a consequence of apprehension and incarceration, for illustration barriers to employment and housing. “Entrenching anti-trafficking efforts successful nan policing of adultery is harmful,” nan study says.

Police successful New York City person since mostly stopped arresting group for providing activity work, Dank added.

“There isn’t evidence, necessarily, to show that if you tribunal instruction personification who’s perchance a unfortunate of a crime, pinch nan anticipation that they’re going to be, like, ‘saved,’ that this is an effective measurement to place trafficking victims and besides put them successful a amended place,” she said. “I person yet to spot immoderate grounds to show that that works.”

To nan rescue

In September 2022, nan quality trafficking task unit launched by COBS coordinated a “victim-focused” sting operation. It progressive rule enforcement officers pretending to beryllium buyers of activity and contacting women online to meet them successful a hotel, according to constabulary reports from nan Nampa Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office and Canyon County Sheriff’s Office.

When nan women arrived astatine nan hotel, officers detained them, constabulary reports show. The women were past interviewed astatine nan agency that COBS shares pinch Advanced Clinical Trauma Services — a for-profit limb of COBS owned by Barthelmess’ son.

“If we prevention 1 female, if 1 female shows up and we’re capable to emotion her and wrap astir her, win-win. It’s a success,” Barthelmess told KTVB7 aft nan operation.

Idaho isn’t undertaking its crusade against quality trafficking alone. Operation Underground Railroad, a arguable world nonprofit that helps rule enforcement “rescue” quality trafficking victims, provided training, mentorship and resources to Idaho rule enforcement for nan 2022 sting, according to nan Idaho State Police.

The organization, now called OUR Rescue, raises tens of millions of dollars per twelvemonth and claims to person supported much than 6,000 survivors since its founding successful 2013, according to its website. It collaborated pinch COBS for a organization consciousness arena successful 2020, according to COBS’ Facebook page, and has fixed COBS astatine slightest $6,000 since 2020, according to Cause IQ, a website that tracks nonprofit funding.

Tim Ballard, OUR’s founder, near nan statement past twelvemonth amid allegations that he sexually assaulted aggregate labor and misled donors — but not earlier inspiring nan 2023 movie “Sound of Freedom,” a container agency deed astir kid activity trafficking that grossed complete $250 cardinal worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie, celebrated among blimpish Christian audiences and promoted by erstwhile President Donald Trump, inspired Republican lawmakers successful Alabama and Florida to propose authorities that toughens criminal penalties for convicted activity traffickers. New Idaho authorities likewise imposes stricter consequences connected convicted traffickers, including mandatory minimum sentences and hefty fines.

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No women were arrested nan nighttime of nan 2022 sting operation, moreover though adultery is simply a crime successful Idaho, said Idaho State Police Detective Vickie Gooch, who co-chaired nan operation. “Our extremity wasn’t, successful that peculiar operation, to apprehension them. It was to connection them unfortunate services, to admit that they are victims of this industry,” she said.

Yet nary of nan women that nighttime connected pinch nan programs offered to them either, Gooch said. For Gooch, this is simply a communal situation that rule enforcement faces pinch trafficking victims. “They don’t spot america yet. It takes awhile to found that relationship,” she said.

Some survivors opportunity caller criminal charges involving Idaho constabulary person made establishing spot much difficult. In November, erstwhile Caldwell Police Department Sgt. Ryan Bendawald pleaded not blameworthy to 8 national charges, including accusations that he exchanged intersexual favors pinch women alternatively of arresting them betwixt 2017 and 2021. And successful May, a man who served arsenic an Idaho Falls Police Department serviceman successful nan 1990s, Gordon Dennis Shaw, was charged pinch quality trafficking successful Bonneville County aft allegedly luring a unfortunate from California to Idaho Falls to prosecute successful commercialized intersexual activity.

RELATED | Former Idaho Falls bull charged pinch quality trafficking and prostitution

Since nan 2022 sting, respective of nan victims identified done nan cognition person faced much criminal charges, Gooch added. “Some of them actually, later connected we learned — because of drug-related reasons — were backmost successful nan system.”

For Amy Farrell, head and professor of criminology and criminal justness astatine Northeastern University, arresting group who person already been identified arsenic trafficking victims isn’t an effective measurement to thief them.

“We either spot group arsenic victims of crime, aliases we don’t,” Farrell said. “If group are concerned astir them because they’re being victimized, it does really request nan question, ‘Why did they get arrested if everyone saw them arsenic a victim?’”

Doubling down

Human trafficking didn’t go a standalone crime successful Idaho until 2019, astir 2 decades aft Congress passed nan Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, nan first broad national quality trafficking law. To date, Idaho still has not convicted anyone of quality trafficking nether its authorities law.

Police constituent to nan state’s debased rates of apprehension and prosecutions for quality trafficking arsenic grounds that caller laws are needed. In response, Idaho policymakers are doubling down connected nan tough-on-crime attack to quality trafficking that critics opportunity is catching victims successful nan crossfire.

In 2023, Idaho passed House Bill 341, which Jeff Nye, nan Attorney General’s Office’s criminal rule section chief, described to InvestigateWest arsenic nan state’s “first step” toward addressing quality trafficking.

The measure expands courts’ expertise to prosecute group benefiting from forbidden intersexual activity. But it did truthful done changes to Idaho’s adultery laws — a maneuver that Zielinski, nan Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition director, argues is yet harmful for victims.

“There are important risks to utilizing nan adultery statute,” Zielinski wrote to Idaho legislators successful guidance to nan bill. “H341 fails to protect victims from being convicted of prostitution.”

The measure passed nan Idaho House and Senate unanimously.

The measure besides directed nan lawyer wide to constitute a study astir quality trafficking successful Idaho. Nye, pinch nan Attorney General’s Office, helped put together a 51-page report recommending circumstantial changes to nan state’s adultery and quality trafficking statutes, crafted pinch input from rule enforcement — and without nonstop input from trafficking survivors, according to Nye.

It copied connection from Texas, a authorities that Nye said does nan champion occupation of having a “straightforward, easy-to-understand” quality trafficking crime.

“We followed what I telephone nan Texas model,” he said. “The thought is this: You link nan quality trafficking to crimes that already beryllium successful Idaho law, that rule enforcement and prosecutors are already investigating and prosecuting.”

Yet while research shows that harsher criminal penalties are tied to much arrests and prosecutions of quality traffickers, it also shows that services for victims, for illustration housing, aesculapian attraction and intelligence wellness treatment, are important to addressing nan roots of trafficking. In opposition to neighboring Washington, which allocated astir $3 million for supporting big activity trafficking survivors successful nan 2023-2024 legislative session, Idaho doesn’t group speech immoderate authorities backing specifically for quality trafficking unfortunate services.

“We’re not going to prosecute our measurement retired of trafficking,” said Sidney McCoy, defense head astatine Shared Hope International, a nonprofit that advocates for policies to eliminate kid trafficking. “If we’re not addressing those underlying vulnerabilities, this rumor is going to proceed to happen.”

The lawyer general’s study became House Bill 494, which passed nan Idaho House and Senate unanimously successful March and took effect July 1. Barthelmess testified successful support of it, and nan bill’s sponsor, Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, wrote a Facebook post thanking COBS arsenic nan measure made its measurement done nan House.

The authorities includes respective revisions that nan Attorney General’s Office says are victim-centered, including replacing nan connection “prostitution” pinch “commercial intersexual activity” and adding a proviso that allows group charged pinch commercialized intersexual activity to person those charges dropped if they’re victims of trafficking.

Shared Hope supported nan legislation, chiefly because it prevents minors from being criminalized nether Idaho’s adultery laws, McCoy said. But McCoy and Zielinski stay skeptical that Idaho’s changes will forestall victims from being charged arsenic perpetrators.

“We felt that nan pros decidedly outweigh nan cons, but of course, there’s decidedly still a request for Idaho to summation protections for victims who could beryllium unjustly criminalized,” McCoy said.

Nye acknowledges these concerns. Protecting victims from criminal charges relating to their traffickers is an area that nan Attorney General’s Office intends to reside successful its adjacent quality trafficking report, owed successful 2 years, he said.

Jail and judgment

Although Idaho constabulary reason that apprehension is sometimes basal to protect victims who are nether nan power of their traffickers, survivors opportunity apprehension doesn’t needfully support them safe. Jail is simply a cleanable breeding crushed for exploitation. Traffickers often prey connected incarcerated people, promising money, a home, narcotics aliases immoderate other inmates mightiness request erstwhile they’re released, according to nan Arizona State University Office of Sex Traffic Intervention Research.

While Jay was successful Ada County Jail past summer, serving clip for nan probation usurpation and felony complaint for narcotics that she said were planted by her trafficker, she knew she had to watch her back. There are recruiters successful Idaho’s jails and prisons, known arsenic “bottoms,” she said — women astatine nan apical of traffickers’ unfortunate level who show different victims and thief lure much group into nan life.

Jay managed to debar nan recruiters successful jail. But 1 summertime time erstwhile jailhouse unit told her she had a visitor, she unexpectedly recovered herself look to look pinch Barthelmess.

“She didn’t show maine a card. She conscionable told maine her sanction and told maine she’s pinch an statement that saves women who were trafficked,” Jay said.

Barthelmess told InvestigateWest she and her squad sojourn detention centers each week. She has connections wrong Idaho’s jails and prisons — prosecutors, nationalist defenders, judges, detectives — who telephone her erstwhile they deliberation an inmate could beryllium a unfortunate of trafficking. Through conversations pinch nan women, Barthelmess determines whether they person successful truth been trafficked and whether they’re a bully fresh for her program, she said.

“We conscionable person a conversation. So like, ‘What are you doing here? What happened? How’d you extremity up here?’” Barthelmess said. “I don’t say, ‘Have you been trafficked?’ First of all, that’s not trauma-informed.”

When Jay met Barthelmess for nan first time, Jay was much than skeptical. She’d ne'er heard of COBS before. She didn’t cognize really Barthelmess had learned astir her situation. “She’s asking maine when’s nan past clip I’ve been pimped out, really galore tricks that I turn, what types of intersexual acts that I do, really overmuch narcotics I’ve used, each types of stuff,” Jay recalled.

At nan extremity of their meeting, she remembers Barthelmess’ last words to her. “Don’t worry. I’m going to travel get you. Do you judge me?”

“I looked her dormant successful nan eye, and I told her no,” Jay said. She’d heard those types of promises before. They ne'er ended well.

When she went to tribunal a fewer weeks later, a judge reinstated her probation for different 7 years pinch a caller request to complete nan COBS program. But aft a fewer months astatine COBS, Jay started voicing her discontent pinch nan programme to different survivors. Then Barthelmess kicked her out.

Jay, believing she’d beryllium locked up again for violating her probation, pleaded pinch Barthelmess to fto her stay. Barthelmess wasn’t swayed, Jay said.

"I’ve been saved because I saved myself."

“The reality is, sometimes their probation officers conscionable make them spell backmost to jail. I mean, that’s thing we tin control,” Barthelmess told InvestigateWest.

This time, Jay managed to debar different situation sentence, alternatively being ordered to comply pinch a caller group of probation conditions. She’s now staying cleanable and avoiding traffickers — a motion to Barthelmess and Idaho rule enforcement that she’s been saved.

“That’s a occurrence to us,” Barthelmess said.

Jay disagrees. Her advancement occurred contempt Idaho’s efforts to prevention her, not because of them, she said. She still lives successful fearfulness that traffickers will find her. Her criminal charges make it difficult to find a safe spot to rent. And her probation is simply a changeless reminder that 1 incorrect move could put her down bars erstwhile again.

“They didn’t do s**t but make maine much frightened and make maine do everything retired of fear,” Jay said. “I’ve been saved because I saved myself.”

InvestigateWest is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative publicity successful nan Pacific Northwest. Reach news and investigations editor Wilson Criscione astatine wilson@invw.org. Reach investigative newsman Kelsey Turner astatine kelsey@invw.org.