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Georgia law offers record expulsion to sex trafficking victims | 13wmaz.com

After becoming an accomplice to the very man she says forced her into a life of trafficking, she was hit with several charges

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Sex and are multimillion-dollar illegal industries. It leaves a scar on those who escape and sometimes a criminal record.

With a recent law, people with convictions related to trafficking can get their records wiped clean.

“So now I have six years of sex offender probation, I have a 7-7 curfew, I can't go see my family, I had to get a court order giving me permission to be around my own kids,” Melissa Griffin explained.

Griffin says those are the consequences she lives after being a victim of .

After a cycle of violent relationships, she says a boyfriend forced her into sex work.


“Anytime we had any disagreement, he would take my daughter who was an infant at the time and be like if you don't do what I'm telling you to do, you'll never see your baby again,” she recalled.

She eventually escaped. How? Prison.

After becoming an accomplice to the very man she says forced her into a life of trafficking, she was hit with several charges including enticing a child and sexual exploitation of a minor.

“She ended up being an underage runaway from Florida. The police came and it just snowballed from there,” she recalled the 2017 incident.

Six years ago, former Warner Robins Police officer Lance Watson was on the team that arrested Griffin.

“She was not arrested that day, she was arrested later on simply because the story she gave needed some more looking into, and once we looked into it, it's like, ‘Well, maybe she could possibly be a victim,'” he said.

He takes responsibility for not communicating that to the DA. He says the system failed Griffin.

Now, he's an advocate in trying to get her record clean through the Vacatur for Human Trafficking survivors. She hopes that will give her a second chance.

“From everybody that I've talked to about it, they say I'm the poster child for this law, it's almost shut-and-close, you know?” she said.

Camila Zolfaghari is the executive director with Street Grace. The organization trains attorneys who represent trafficking survivors in court.

“91% of adults trafficking survivors have a criminal record, the majority which is a direct result of their trafficking. it holds them back from jobs, it holds them back from housing and so it really, it's really one of those ongoing results and hindrances of their trafficking,” she explained.

She says victims and attorneys who want to help can contact them at www.streetgrace.org or email [email protected]

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original location.

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ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.

 

EYES ON TRAFFICKING

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.