(Prostitutes) In Prison: Latesha Clay

John Agar for Michigan Live (MLive) wrote on January 11, 2016: GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A 15-year-old girl and mother of two toddlers was sentenced to prison for helping to rob prospective johns who responded to an Internet sex ad.Latesha Clay was sentenced Monday, Jan. 11, to nine years in prison for robbing two men who responded to an ad on Backpage.com. The ad offered sex with a teen.The victims were robbed after they showed up at a room at Motel 6, 4855 28th St. SE.Clay wept during the hearing, with family behind her filling many seats in the gallery.Also charged are Trayvin Donnell Lewis, 18, and Monee Duepre Atkinson, 17.

 

 

[Anonymous sex worker allie} reached out to Latesha

Latesha Clay #972719 Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility 3201 Bemis Rd Ypsilanti, MI 48197

January 30th 2016 Latesha –  I don’t know if you are a sex worker.  It doesn’t matter if you are or not.  All I know are the “claims” the State made against you in an online article about your sentencing.  I did five years at Lowell Correctional Institute for drug charges.  I got out in June of 2000. I was in my 30’s during my prison sentence.  With that, I just can’t imagine what it would be like doing prison time at age 15.   I do know how painful it was for me to be separated from my daughter, who had just turned 4 when I went to prison, and was almost 9 when I came home.  I want to offer you my friendship, and let you to know my friendship comes with no conditions. You don’t have to explain your arrest, or your life story; unless you want to.  Our community is outraged that the state of Michigan’s “Safe Harbor” laws failed to protect you from a 9 year prison sentence, and we want you to know that there are people who care about you. I run CoyoteRI with no funding, so all I can afford to send you today is a twenty-five dollar money order.  If you want, I could find someone in our community to start a crowdfunder on your behalf. Hopefully this will allow us to keep sending you funds.  If you are allowed books, clothing,  or anything besides money orders, please let us know (be sure to include  your favorite authors and sizes etc.), so we can try to get the things you need to you.I have posted your story in a few “Sex Worker Rights” groups on Facebook in the hope that other sex workers and allies would step up to write you and help support you .Please write back to let me know how you are doing, along with  telling me what I can do to help.I really hope to hear back from you. Your sister in solidarity, {anonymous sex worker allie}

The prison returned the money order instructing  mail to:

JPAY PO Box 531190 Miami Shores, FL 33153

or:  online to http://www.jpay.com

See JPAY Follow Up at  End of the Blog Article

SO – WHO IS DEFINED AS A “CHILD”?

Because it seems Latesha is  a child  facing a  long prison sentence.

S178 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA)

Definitions

In this section—

(1)

the term child means a person under the age of 18;

(2)

the term child advocacy center means a center created under subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13001 et seq.);

(3)

the term child human trafficking means 1 or more severe forms of trafficking in persons (as defined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)) involving a victim who is a child; and

(4)

the term eligible entity means a State or unit of local government that—

(A)

has significant criminal activity involving child human trafficking;

(B)

has demonstrated cooperation between Federal, State, local, and, where applicable, tribal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers in addressing child human trafficking;

(C)

has developed a workable, multi-­disciplinary plan to combat child human trafficking, including—

(i)

the establishment of a shelter for victims of child human trafficking, through existing or new facilities;

(ii)

the provision of trauma-­informed, gender-responsive rehabilitative care to victims of child human trafficking;

(iii)

the provision of specialized training for law enforcement officers and social service providers for all forms of human trafficking, with a focus on domestic child human trafficking;

(iv)

prevention, deterrence, and prosecution of offenses involving child human trafficking, including soliciting, patronizing, or purchasing human acts with children;

(v)

cooperation or referral agreements with organizations providing outreach or other related services to runaway and homeless youth;

(vi)

law enforcement protocols or procedures to screen all individuals arrested for prostitution, whether adult or child, for victimization by sex trafficking and by other crimes, such as sexual assault and domestic violence; and

(vii)

cooperation or referral agreements with State child welfare agencies and child advocacy centers; and

(D)

provides an assurance that, under the plan under subparagraph (C), a victim of child human trafficking shall not be required to collaborate with law enforcement officers to have access to any shelter or services provided with a grant under this section.

UNION LIP SERVICE ASKS: Is the JVTA and Safe Harbour failing our youth?

READ the 55 page, Dangers of “Safe Harbor ” Laws for Youth in the Sex Trades 2016:

http://esplerp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Dangers-of-Safe-Harbor-Laws-Conner-2016.pdf

UNION LIP SERVICE asks:  Who is advocating for the rights of our victimized youth caught in crimes related to  the conflation of poverty, prostitution, and proposed human trafficking “remedies”?

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