Attorney General Alan Wilson leads multistate effort to support human trafficking survivors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       March 7, 2024

    Attorney General Alan Wilson leads multistate effort to support human trafficking survivors

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson led a multistate effort supporting Congressman Russell Fry’s bill to support survivors of human trafficking.

"Despite what many think, human trafficking is happening in every corner of South Carolina and the country. This heinous crime is usually a gradual one and can affect victims for the rest of their lives,” said Attorney General Alan Wilson. “Combatting this issue is near and dear to my heart, and I'm proud of the work Congressman Russell Fry and his colleagues are doing to help survivors through the Human Trafficking Survivor Relief Act. Passing this bill would be one more useful step in helping eradicate this crime and helping human trafficking victims move forward with their lives."

Congressman Fry’s Human Trafficking Survivor Relief Act has bipartisan support in the U.S. House. Often, victims of human trafficking are forced into criminal behavior by their abuser. This can include both state and federal crimes like drug offenses, financial crimes, fraud, and identity theft. Fry’s bill would protect survivors of human trafficking and allow for non-violent federal crimes, that were committed as a direct result of their victimization, to be expunged, vacated, or receive a mitigated sentence.

Specifically, for a court to grant a motion to vacate a conviction or expunge an arrest, a defendant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the offense was committed as a direct result of having been a victim of trafficking. Additionally, the defendant must establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant was a victim of human trafficking at the time the offense was committed.

The attorneys general in their letter say, “As State Attorneys General, we want to ensure survivors of human trafficking have all the resources they need to succeed in their communities throughout their recovery. That is why we commend the efforts of Members of Congress who have authored the ‘Trafficking Survivors Relief Act’ and join multiple organizations in endorsing this bill to allow human trafficking victims a pathway to clear their records of non-violent criminal offenses committed as a direct result of being trafficked.”

Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah joined the South Carolina led letter.

Read the full letter here.

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