By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

CHESHIRE, CT – State Rep. Liz Linehan has introduced to increase the penalties for any person convicted of soliciting a prostitute. Her proposed bill would make soliciting a prostitute a Class C felony and add perpetrators to the sex offender registry after two convictions. The crime is currently a misdemeanor and soliciting a prostitute – even one who is a minor – is not an offense linked to the registry.

"It's time to change the belief that prostitution is a victimless crime; many sex workers are, in fact, victims themselves," Linehan said. "That we continue to punish sex workers – many of whom have been coerced into this work or do it out of economic desperation – without looking at the other side of the equation just doesn't make sense. We need to shift the focus to the consumers, and by increasing penalties for soliciting sex we can decrease the demand." A recent study by the Connecticut Trafficking in Persons Council found that sex workers were seven times more likely to be convicted of a crime than 'johns.'

"The Legislature's Trafficking in Persons Council has embarked on a Connecticut Campaign Against Demand in order to focus attention on those buying sex," Linehan said. "When men buy sex they create demand which fuels sex trafficking in our state. Representative Linehan, and the legislation she has introduced, recognizes the importance of targeting buyers in order to prevent the sex trafficking of our state's women and children," Jillian Gilchrest, chair of the Connecticut Trafficking in Persons Council said.

Under Connecticut law, a misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail but does not automatically result in jail time. Class C felony charges have a minimum jail sentence of one year if found guilty.

Trafficking in persons has been a felony in Connecticut since 2006, when the General Assembly passed Public Act 06-43.

But in a forum held on sex trafficking last year at the Legislative Office Building many of the speakers also repeated another theme — that the state's law is inferior to the federal legislation in place to pursue, arrest, and convict those who prey upon children in the human trafficking field. In part, those speakers said, because many of the cases involve crossing state lines.