In late July, the FBI announced the results of "Operation Cross Country 7," a human trafficking crackdown conducted across the nation that led to hundreds of arrests and the rescue of 105 victims of sex trafficking. The victims were reported to be between the ages of 9 and 17. In Oklahoma City, three teen girls were rescued and 60 adults were arrested for prostitution, aiding prostitution, or pimping. In one case, an 18-year-old woman and a 22-year-old woman are accused of driving the 16-year-old victim to a hotel. While the older woman waited in a car, the 18-year-old and 16-year-old negotiated with an undercover officer they believed to be a customer, or john, to engage in a menage a trois. The two older women were arrested on the scene, and the 16-year-old was taken into protective custody.
However, this national initiative was not the end of the story for sex trafficking in Oklahoma. On July 31, Tulsa police arrested an Oklahoma City couple who traveled to Tulsa to pick up a girl they believed to be 17-years-old. They told the undercover officer posing as a teen on an internet site they would put her to work as a stripper and internet escort in Dallas and Las Vegas. Under federal and state law, anyone who allows or aids a minor under the age of 18 to engage in a commercial sex act is considered to be trafficking in persons.
Now, Tulsa police have arrested yet another woman on a complaint of human trafficking. They say 23-year-old Alaina Paige Lamecker made arrangements to meet an undercover officer at a local hotel after the officer responded to an online ad. Lamecker allegedly brought with her a 14-year-old girl and negotiated a price of $120 for sex with the young teen. She was arrested on an human trafficking complaint as well as a complaint of soliciting prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church. Her bail was set at $101,500.
Human trafficking, whether labor trafficking or sex trafficking, is a violation of both Oklahoma law and federal law. Typically, it is prosecuted as a state crime, but there are several situations in which the federal government will take jurisdiction. Under federal law, sex trafficking is prohibited by 18 U.S.C. § 1591, Sex Trafficking of Children or by Force, Fraud, or Coercion. If a commercial sex act involves a minor aged between 14 and 18, it is punishable by a maximum of 40 years in federal prison. If it involves a minor under the age of 14 or if it is perpetrated through force, fraud, or coercion, it is punishable by life in prison.
Oklahoma's human trafficking law is outlined in 22 O.S. § 748. The statute clearly defines the terms related to sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Human trafficking in Oklahoma is punishable by a minimum of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. If, however, the victim is under the age of 18, the penalties are doubled, with a minimum of 10 years in the state penitentiary and a maximum fine of $20,000. Additionally, anyone found guilty of human trafficking is ordered to pay restitution to the victim.
