Death threats and accusations of pedophilia. How child trafficking took over the California Capitol

California Democrats spent the final days before summer recess in an unusual place: embroiled in a legislative fight with Republicans, who normally operate in the shadow of the state’s blue supermajority.

The cause? A bill to strengthen the penalties for child traffickers that the legislators killed before an approaching legislative deadline.

By the time they left Sacramento last week, the Democrats had doubled down and advanced Senate Bill 14 at an emergency hearing of the Senate Public Safety Committee, likely at the behest of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister.

And Republicans were celebrating a “victory for law and order in California” with the bill’s author, Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield.

How did a nearly powerless party score a political victory in California?

In part, by employing simplistic, fear-based messages that exploited the divide between progressive Democrats and moderates on criminal justice reform. Social media posts amplifying the bill’s failure suggest that Democrats are soft on crime, especially as it relates to children.

His arguments in favor of the bill also smacked of far-right Republican conspiracy theory about Democrats and pedophilia.

Here’s what to know as Democrats continue to face the fallout.

Human Trafficking in California

Human trafficking occurs when people are forced or coerced into doing work. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, most human trafficking cases involve sex trafficking or forced sex work.

During testimony before the Assembly Public Safety Committee on July 11, Grove called the state a “hub for human trafficking.”

Trafficking is underreported, but data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline shows that California the proportion of national cases decreased from 2015 to 2021, the PPIC reported. The state accounted for about 18 percent of cases nationwide in 2015, a number that dropped to about 13 percent in 2021.

The traffic hotline in 2021 identified 1,334 cases in California with 2,122 victims. Their collection of demographic data is incomplete, but 978 identified victims were adults and 246 were children.

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Reform of the traffic sentence

Child sex trafficking is already a crime in California, but it is not listed as a “felony.”

People convicted of child sex trafficking they currently face between five and 12 years in prison and a fine of $500,000. The penalty jumps to 15 years to life in prison if the crime involves violence, coercion, fear or threats.

Felonies considered felonies are eligible for sentencing under California’s controversial “three strikes” law, which significantly increases prison time for repeat offenders.

Last year, Grove authored a broader bill that sought to add human trafficking to the lists of violent and serious crimes. The measure died in the Senate Public Safety Committee. This year, he amended SB 14 to apply it more narrowly to those trafficked minors.

California lawmakers have tried repeatedly with no success since 2007 to create tougher penalties for human traffickers, CalMatters reports.

The complicated nature of the reclassification of trafficking offenses was highlighted at the July 11 hearing.

Sharmin Bock, a former Alameda County district attorney, said Grove’s bill is needed because child sex traffickers rarely serve their prison terms, encouraging them to reoffend.

But survivor April Grayson of the Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition tearfully opposed the bill, saying it may unwittingly sweep victims forced to act on behalf of their traffickers.

Republicans back Democrats into a corner

California has spent the last 15 years moving away from tough felony sentencing laws that created overcrowded prisons full of black and brown people. A panel of federal judges in 2009 ordered the state to begin reducing its prison population.

That led to a series of changes that reclassified some lower-level crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, moved some inmates to county jails and increased opportunities for people to get credits and reduce their sentences.

Progressive Democrats have been hesitant to support bills that would increase penalties, wanting to avoid a return to policies that promote mass incarceration.

That has created an opening for Republicans, who have spent much of the year attacking Democrats and Public Safety Committee Chairman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, for opposing measures that add jail time for fentanyl dealers.

Jones-Sawyer had to step back this spring and listen to the fentanyl bill series previously refused to appear in court. Members still killed measures that would have strengthened penalties for dealers.

But when it came to SB 14, four Democrats reversed course and joined two Republicans in voting for SB 14 at the July 13 emergency meeting.

That may be due in part to a messaging war the GOP waged after the bill failed.

Republicans pushed messages on social media saying Democrats were rejecting efforts to make child trafficking a serious crime. The posts did not include any context around existing penalties or what a serious crime means in California.

The posts and news spread enough to catch the attention of Twitter owner Elon Musk, who responded to a tweet about the situationsaying, “A. How is that not a serious crime already? B. Wtf!?”

Human trafficking has long been a strong issue for Republicans. This is especially true on the far right of the party, where conspiracy theorists have perpetuated myths that Democratic leaders are treating children.

Rep. Heath Flora, R-Modesto, alluded to this during the July 13 floor session when he asked his colleagues to pick a team: “Pick pedophiles or kids.”

Jones-Sawyer told reporters after the bill passed out of her committee that some members had received death threats after the July 11 meeting.

Rep. Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, was one of two committee members who declined to vote on the bill during the second hearing.

“The number of times over the last day people have suggested that my (girlfriend and) family are sex trafficked is a reminder that this was not a political conversation,” Bryan. he said in a Twitter post.

SB 14 now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee after the Legislature returns from its summer recess on August 14.