Mustello

State Rep. Marci Mustello will join several colleagues Wednesday in talking about their efforts to tighten state laws around human trafficking.

“It's really a package of bills to tighten the laws that we have now to further punish human traffickers,” Mustello said.

She will be joined by fellow representatives in holding a news conference to discuss a package of bills aimed at providing better grounds for prosecuting human trafficking cases.

The news conference will start 10 a.m. Wednesday in Harrisburg, and will be available to the public through a live webstream at www.PAHouseGOP.com.

The state House of Representatives will also vote on the items Wednesday.

According to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, human trafficking is a crime where people profit from the exploitation of children, adolescents and adults.

Typically human trafficking manifests in sex trafficking, which involves one person manipulating another into sex acts in exchange for something of value, such as money, food, shelter or drugs.

“It's in our backyards, and we really don't know it until we see it in the newspapers,” Mustello said. “They're calling it modern-day slavery, and it needs to be addressed immediately.”

Mustello said her bill would focus on allowing prosecutors to expand on charges in cases where children are the victims.

“It really strengthens the current law by adding certain prohibited activities to constitute unlawful contact with a minor,” she said.

Mustello's bill would amend crime and offense legislation to include more definitions of the crime of unlawful contact with a minor.

Under the definition of the offense, the additions include a number of sexual offenses, human trafficking, incest, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of minors.

In addition to Mustello's bill, the package includes other bills aimed at guaranteeing the safety of victims, protecting their privacy, and making it safer for them to testify against their abusers.

Mustello said she felt called to this issue because her district has two major highways that could be used to transport victims. “I got involved because of my proximity in Interstate 79 and Interstate 80,” Mustello said.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, in 2018 there were 275 cases of human trafficking reported in Pennsylvania, making it the state with the 11th highest number of cases nationwide.

In 2012, there were 91 reported cases in Pennsylvania. The number of cases has risen every year since.

Mustello said she feels confident that the whole package will receive bipartisan support. “I do feel it will pass on both sides of the aisle. This affects all of us,” she said.