A law that prohibits prosecuting child victims of trafficking and adds more protective measures will go into effect late next month.

Act 130 of 2018, also known as the Safe Harbor Law, recognizes children of trafficking as victims instead of as criminals, enhances law enforcement training and establishes a new fund for victim services.

A couple of local organizations and an elected official applauded the law’s passage.

Ashley Gay Vocco, Family Services Inc. victim services program director, said the average age of a trafficked victim is 12 years old, but many children are still penalized and prosecuted as criminals. She added many children flee home because of sexual abuse only to then be sexually exploited on the streets.

“Forced to commit crimes, barter sex for survival like shelter and food and more, trafficked children can be held accountable for those crimes which they were forced to commit,” Gay Vocco said. “The new Safe Harbor bill establishes protections for these child victims, enabling them to receive the help and support they need, rather than face criminal charges and prosecutions.”

She said the Family Services team is elated the bill passed, stating child victims will now receive the help and support they deserve.

State Rep. John McGinnis, R-Altoona, said the law offers immunity to victims from prosecution and funds to resources to help them get out of trafficking.

“They’re clearly victims,” he said. “I just think this makes sense.”

“We just assume that people who are minors don’t do these things of their own free will, and we shouldn’t hold them criminally liable for this stuff, particularly when the circumstances are so vile as human traffickers preying on these kids and drug dealers preying them, as well,” McGinnis added.

The legislation, backed by bipartisan support, also received support from various entities.

Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Ryan Tarkowski said, “I think the main idea behind the bill is to take a holistic look at the people involved in human trafficking and really treat them as victims of a horrible crime as opposed to being somewhat complicit or willing participants in the act of prostitution.”

The law calls on training law enforcement officers to recognize signs of trafficking. It also requires officers to report any encounter with a minor subjected to sexual exploitation and to direct them to specialized programs and services such as housing, education, case management and therapy.

Shea Rhodes, Villanova Law Institute to Add­r­ess Comm­ercial Sexual Exploitation director, said the institute helped the Legislature and other stakeholders draft the original bill that was first introduced in 2015.

Rhodes said she is thrilled about the bill’s passage, describing it as a “truly bipartisan win that will ultimately protect our sexually exploited children.”

Prior to the bill’s passage, thirty-four states had safe harbor laws, states a report by the Villanova Law Institute.

The act is set to go into effect Christmas Eve.

There is no official projection for the total number of trafficking victims in the U.S., but the count is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, according to Polaris.

Mirror Staff Writer Shen Wu Tan is at 946-7457.