Mass. human trafficking law still work in progress - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

Mass. human trafficking law still work in progress

By News Staff

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BOSTON (AP) - As Massachusetts moves forward in implementing a new law that targets individuals who market children for sex or forced labor, Attorney General Martha Coakley said her office is working to determine the extent of human trafficking in the state.

Coakley said it's been hard to collect information on how many individuals have been arrested and charged under the statute, due to the number of jurisdictions involved and because human trafficking is largely done underground

Her office has arrested and charged four individuals in connection with allegedly running a Boston-area sex trafficking operation.

The law establishes a criminal penalty for human trafficking for sexual servitude and for forced labor and imposes a life sentence for anyone found guilty of trafficking children for sex or forced labor, among other things.