TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A public database in Florida meant to thwart human trafficking by posting the names and mugshots of people convicted of paying for sex no longer exists.
Over the past three years since the Soliciting for Prostitution Public Database launched in January 2021, the ABC Action News I-Team has tracked how it's being used and questioned state leaders about its effectiveness.
On Jan. 1, 2024, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) took the database off of its website. That's because the law creating a public list of convicted sex buyers required lawmakers to reenact the website before 2024. That didn't happen.
As state efforts continue to find the most effective ways to combat human trafficking, here's a quick history of what led up to the database's removal.
January 2022
The I-Team discovered, despite hundreds of arrests in Florida, the first-of-its-kind sex buyers database listed just one person a year into its launch.
Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, a survivor of child sex abuse, filed the human trafficking bill in 2019.
"Working together with law enforcement, survivors in the community, everyone working to address this issue," she said at the time.
There was one "no" vote.
Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani of Orlando said without the inclusion of the Soliciting for Prostitution Public Database in the bill, her vote would have been "yes."
"I don’t want unintended consequences or I don’t want policy that gives off the impression that we’re preventing human trafficking when it’s not," Eskamani told the I-Team. "I would rather those dollars go to direct resources to serve our organizations that are on the ground, supporting human trafficking survivors and serving as intervention. That one name is not reflective of the number of people who are trafficked across the state, it is not reflective of the money made in human trafficking, and so it tells me that we need more solutions.”
April 2022
Within three months of the I-Team's investigation, the database grew to include dozens of convicted sex buyers. It later grew to hundreds of names. The I-Team found that FDLE discovered an automated process it developed to identify cases for the "johns" list had not been working.
The list was still a far cry from the number of arrests for the same crime, revealing the gap that exists between soliciting for prostitution arrests and convictions. In some cases, the charges are dropped. Others go into diversion. Some end up pleading to a different charge. Some cases were still pending.
I-TEAM | Human Trafficking Coverage
In a report released in December 2022, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), a research arm of the Florida legislature, found that only 21% of people arrested for soliciting prostitution in the first eight months of 2021 ended up on the list.
OPPAGA said for public shaming to deter sex buyers, the public would have to know the list exists, and it would need to provide more information. The group said lawmakers could expand the list of eligible crimes for inclusion in the database.
Instead, the list was taken down. OPPAGA also suggested a focus on increasing the penalty for a first offense to a felony to deter buyers that fuel the demand for a sex trafficking industry. So far, legislative efforts to make the crime a felony have failed.
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Visit the state's You Can Stop Human Traffickingwebsite to learn more about what human trafficking really is and how you can help.
There's information about rumors versus reality, such as the fact that many victims are U.S. citizens and include men, in addition to women and children.
There is also a myth that traffickers typically abduct victims. The reality is that traffickers often build relationships with their victims first.
Traffickers can include romantic partners, spouses, parents and other family members.
If you believe you are a victim or suspect an adult is a victim of human trafficking, call 1-855-FLA-SAFE. If you suspect a child is a victim, the Florida Abuse Hotline is 1-800-96-ABUSE.
