INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says he'll help fast-track a bill aimed at cracking down on prostitution and the people who profit from it, getting it signed into law before the 2012 Super Bowl.
Daniels said the sporting event, which is expected to draw more than 150,000 people to the host city of Indianapolis, has developed an unsavory reputation as being the "single worst occurrence" of a flourishing sex commercial sex industry that promotes underage prostitutes to a willing out-of-town clientele.
"We have an obligation to act and to act quickly…" Daniels said at a press conference Friday. "This will be the Super Bowl where this terrible practice will come to an end."
Legislation that expands the state's sex-crime laws will have to be passed by both the House and Senate and delivered to Daniels' desk for his signature by early February. The NFL championship game will be played in Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 5, but a host of parties and other events are scheduled the week before.
On Friday, Republican state Sen. Randy Head of Logansport filed legislation aimed at closing loopholes in the state's existing laws that cover the commercial sex industry. Head said the bill is scheduled to be heard in committee on Jan. 4, the first day of the 2012 session. The bill has bipartisan support and legislative leaders have promised to move it on a fast track.
Head is a former deputy prosecutor from Cass County and is a member of the legislature's Criminal Code Evaluation Commission. He noted that other Super Bowl host cities have reported an influx of sex trafficking during the event and other large sporting events.
"This is not an issue whose time has come, it's an issue that's already come, and we're just trying to catch up," Head said.
The legislation has been pushed by Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, who's been active in the National Association of Attorneys General effort to curb sex trafficking. Zoeller has said that teenage runaways and illegal immigrants are targeted by the commercial sex industry and exploited for profit. The extent of the crime is difficult to measure, but a U.S. State Department report in 2010 said between 14,500 and 17,500 men, women and children are illegally trafficked into the United States each year, and many are forced into prostitution.
Zoeller said he doesn't want the legislation to tarnish the famed "Hoosier hospitality," but said there was a need to recognize the problems that come with hosting an an event like the Super Bowl.
"As proud as all Hoosiers are to be hosting the Super Bowl and other major sporting events, we should be realistic about some of the problems that are associated with the thousands of visitors from all over the world." Zoeller said. "We need to send a clear message that Hoosier hospitality does not welcome those who would be involved in human trafficking and anyone threatening our children."
Head's bill would expand current state laws against promoting prostitution and child solicitation, making it easier to prosecute sex-traffickers. The bill would make it a class A felony, punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison, for any person to sell a child for purposes of prostitution or sexual conduct. Existing state law covers parents and guardians only.