Today, Assemblyman Dave McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick) joined his Assembly Minority Colleagues to urge the Assembly to pass A.8808, the “Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act.” While the legislation was passed as part of an omnibus bill last year, it remains contentious. As a result, McDonough and his colleagues are urging for its passage as a stand-alone bill, especially in light of the recent kidnapping of nearly 300 girls from their boarding school in Nigeria.

“The tragic kidnapping in Nigeria has struck a nerve with people across the globe and reiterated the need for all governments to do more to crack down on human trafficking,” said McDonough. “The #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign has done wonders to shed light on this one instance, and that is laudable. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident, and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics Task Force on Human Trafficking investigated 2,515 suspected cases from January 2008 to June 2010.”

Assembly Bill 8808 would establish three new sections of law, creating “aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution” in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees, which would be class C, class D and class E felonies. The act also creates the crime of patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone when the patron is 21 years old or older and the person patronized is under 18. The bill increases penalties for a number of other crimes already in statute. A complete copy of the legislation can be found at http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A08808&term=2013.

Video of Assemblyman McDonough speaking during today’s press conference can be seen at http://youtu.be/6OAUgHBykqM.