Federal prosecutors have taken over a Florida prostitution case because they say a state court might go too easy on him.
The case involves Tracey James Barnes, a Seattle man accused of luring underage girls into prostitution. The Associated Press says he faces 25 years in prison on the federal charge of transporting people across state lines for prostitution. A similar case in Florida last year sent a pimp to the calaboose for 15 ½ years, the AP.
But what makes this case so unusual, the AP says, is that the prosecutors normally have nothing to do with state prostitution cases - they're from the civil rights division of the U.S. Attorney's office and normally take on hate crimes, discrimination, and other civil rights disputes.
The key, the AP says, is juvenile involvement. Federal prosecutor Jennifer Prior tells the AP state prosecution is ineffective because many defendants often leave the state and state sentences are lenient. "If there weren't children involved in this case, it would never have been brought in federal court," Prior tells the AP. "This man is a trafficker in little girls' bodies. He sells girls' flesh."
And one former prostitute testified Thursday she began life with Barnes at age 16 and was often beaten. "I was raped and robbed," 19-year-old Jessica Kathleen Stump testified. "I left Florida with scars on my body. I had pistols pulled on me."
Barnes's defense argues the women acted of their own free will and for the money, the AP says, adding the case doesn't warrant the federal government's attention.
