Buyer Beware: Why Johns Should Be Charged With Statutory Rape For Buying Sex From A Child

Despite the common conception that human trafficking is primarily a problem beyond our shores, sex trafficking is a growing epidemic within the United States. Sex traffickers are increasingly preying on children in particular in response to growing demand for paid sex with younger girls and boys. Strikingly, the criminal justice system charges and prosecutes these trafficking victims for selling sex even though they have been forced into the trade. Unlike trafficked children, the adults who buy sex from them are rarely charged and, if they are, the charge—a low-level misdemeanor or violation—fails to reflect the gravity of their crime. Take away the exchange of money, and the justice system appropriately deems these children victims and their patrons rapists for engaging in the exact same acts. This Note argues that prosecutors should prosecute these adult patrons, also known as johns, with statutory rape. Their conduct constitutes child rape whether money is exchanged or not. The current charges of misdemeanors and violations are inadequate to reflect the severity of their crimes. By contrast, statutory rape is, in endeavor would have been impossible without the following things in my life: the knowledge and collaboration of Professor Cynthia Godsoe and my colleagues at AEquitas, who introduced me to this topic; the feedback and support from my feminist family, the impeccable attention to detail from the Journal of Law and Policy's leadership and support staff; and, the enthusiastic permission to engage in panicked, late-night discussions about an impossibly heavy topic from my partner and academic cheerleader, Daniel Souleles. 450 JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY every state, a felony offense that imposes strict liability on an adult who has sex with a child under a certain age. Charging johns with an offense that more accurately reflects their criminality would reinforce the notion that children trafficked into the sex industry are victims, not criminals, and that the law must similarly treat trafficked and non-trafficked children. Additionally, the heightened penalty would decrease demand for trafficked children by deterring johns from participating in and thus driving the child sex market.