Attorney General Candidate Brad Schimel Outlines Plan For Addressing Sex Trafficking

Republican attorney general candidate Brad Schimel has said he’ll make prosecuting human traffickers a top priority if elected.

Schimel said he’ll seek increased funding from the state Legislature to train prosecutors on how to handle cases that often involve victims who have been sexually abused and are unwilling to testify against the traffickers they’re forced to work for.

“These women and girls who get involved with human trafficking are virtually stripped of their will,” Schimel said. “It is an insidious grooming process that leaves them convinced that the trafficker lives with them. He’s the only person that loves them and … they’d be useless and helpless without them.”

Schimel said he’ll also create partnerships with nonprofit organizations with the expertise to rehabilitate sex trafficking victims. He said that this type of “comprehensive approach” would help victims become less reluctant to “trust the system.”

Schimel’s Democratic opponent in the attorney general’s race, Jefferson County D.A. Susan Happ, did not return phone calls or emails for comment on Schimel’s plan. In campaign appearances she has also listed prosecuting child sex crimes as one of her priorities if she’s elected.

Schimel said he’s the only candidate that has a comprehensive plan to train prosecutors to attack the problem.