The number of times a child is sexually exploited is as often as seven times per day. A pimp can make $100,000 to $150,000 a year per child because victims of child trafficking are used over and over again.

And the average life expectancy after a child is dragged into that life is just seven years.

What to do with these damaged victims when they are arrested and brought to court on charges of prostitution? In this exclusive interview, one woman, Judge Catherine Pratt of the Los Angeles Superior Court in Compton, tells how she has pioneered a way to connect and build new and better relationships with these girls.

WHERE TO BEGIN?

“One on one,” says Judge Pratt.

“We believe in individual support for these sexually exploited minors,” says the judge. No shackles, no orange jumpsuits when they come into her courtroom.

Do you have trouble, or do they, relating to you as a blond white woman, when 80% of these girls are Afro-American, and most of the rest are Hispanic?

“You have to take time to get to know them, one by one and build their trust,” says Judge Pratt. “They come into the system trusting no one. One day one girl asked me if I had been ‘in the life.’ That’s their way to describe someone who has been involved in prostitution. She said to me, “You really seem to get it. You understand us and you get it.’ That made me proud.”

Every day, minor children, girls aged from 9 to 17, are arrested for the act of prostitution. They are taken off the streets and brought into courts, an action which serves to push them into jail and prisons, victimized by the real criminals, men who want nothing more than to sell their bodies for money, sometimes many times over in one night. These men who control them are treated as child molesters.

Compton courthouse, where many teenage girls appear after an arrest for prostitution.

Over seven years ago Judge Pratt secured a federal grant for $350,000 and, at her request, 50 girls were directed to her uniquely dedicated courtroom that works exclusively with victims of child sex trafficking. She named it the STAR court, an acronym that means Succeeding Through Achievement and Resilience.

Resilience means “the maintenance of high levels of positive affect and well-being in the face of adversity.” It is not that resilient individuals never experience negative affect, but rather that the negative effect does not persist.

The largest share of the grant money went toward securing advocacy workers for the team.
“We try to treat them as normal,” the judge says, “and give them normal experiences, like weekend outings. We have some funds, but we could use outside help with this. We take them bowling, horseback riding, remembering their birthday with cupcakes. All this is on time outside the court.” The cost of cupcakes comes out of Judge Pratt’s own pocket.

This new approach to empowering young victims is at the forefront of reducing human trafficking in Los Angeles County. It is a program that works and is model for others to follow. The STAR Court has strong relationships with local law enforcement agencies and community partners.

Composite picture of a minor arrested for child prostitution: age 12-14, comes from an abusive home, has looked for sympathy in sexually suggestive online sites. She has run away and been “befriended” by a pimp, who pays for her visits to a nail salon. She has his “brand” tattooed on her face.

The motel room is rented by the pimp: she has no money, and being a minor, couldn’t rent one anyway. The pimp tells her the day’s charges: “He said 80 for sex, 50 for head,” one girl says. Ironically, she is afraid to ask for outside help “for fear of getting into trouble.”

Judge Catherine Pratt. Photo courtesy **National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges**

These young “defendants” in STAR Court are vulnerable and fragile. They often come from troubled homes and, in trying to find approval and self-worth, instead find themselves unable to escape virtual sex slavery. Outcome, if there is no intervention: prematurely old, likely to be dead in a few years, of disease or violence.

What drives Judge Pratt? “My older sister, who essentially raised me, was in a very abusive relationship and that man ended up killing her,” Judge Pratt said. When was that? “Twenty-two years ago,” but who’s counting.

Judge Pratt and the County Probation Department create a handpicked team to help each girl embark on the process of recovery. They partner with child advocates and legal advocates from nonprofit organizations, and agencies like the county Department of Children and Family Services and the Public Defender’s Office.

Continuity is important. “I mandate that they come before me at least every month,” says Judge Pratt. “In most juvenile courts, the offenders see the judge twice a year. One really important ingredient is consistency, consistency in seeing the same judge, the same public defenders each time. So they don’t have to tell their stories to new people every time.”

The pronoun “I” does not seem to be a part of Judge Pratt’s vocabulary. Who then is “we”?

“The team: me, the social case worker, the public defender, probation officer, interested parties from non-profits,” says the judge. “They take them to doctor appointments, see that they get suitable clothes to wear to school or to job interviews.”

As of today, she and her teams have worked with 500 girls ranging in age from 10 to 17. How successful has this been?

“In over seven years, working with 500 girls, we have a 72% success rate.” What is success? “It varies from day to day. In this case it means that they have not been rearrested as juveniles or adults for prostitution or a related crime.

“What we want is for them to become independent young women, staying away from their pimps and becoming capable of thinking and making decisions for themselves. That shows that they have learned self-respect.”

Does she tell them what to do and where to be and go? “If I did, I would become their next pimp,” says Judge Pratt. “That is, if I thought for them and ordered them around, I would become the authority figure, and control them just as pimps do. We want them to think for themselves, make decisions for themselves.”

Girls ordered to appear at the Downey courthouse on prostitution charges are often transferred to Compton, so they can see Judge Catherine Pratt.

Do they slip, after meeting her in court? “Of course they do. They violate probation, some try to run away. Sometimes they will tell us, as soon as they get into court, ‘I tested dirty for marijuana.’ But we believe, it’s not how many times you fall down, it’s how many times you get up again.”

If the girls are tempted to go back to the sex trade by their pimps while they are on probation, how can they be stopped? If you don’t believe in locking them up, that is.

“No, but there are ways,” says the judge. “If the ‘home’ gets wind of their plans to leave, they can move them to a remote location. Sometimes it’s just as simple as removing their shoes. They aren’t going far without shoes, 20 miles from a paved road.”

Judge Pratt favors rehabilitation over punishment so she does not immediately dismiss the prostitution-related charges against the girls. Thus, they can remain eligible for wraparound services offered by Los Angeles County’s juvenile justice system. These include placement in a group home or juvenile hall — a safe place away from pimps — gang intervention programs, educational opportunities, job training, and even family reunification services.

“I like to use gift cards,” Judge Pratt said, “so they can get the simple ordinary necessities, like appropriate clothing to wear to school.”

She uses some of the grant money for things the kids wouldn’t normally get, to mark birthdays, the end of probation terms, and other milestones. The money for the cupcakes she buys comes out of her own pocket.

“We asked one girl what restaurant she wanted to go to for her birthday, and she said she had never been to a restaurant, in her life. And she was 18.”

Massage parlors and physical therapy clinics are often fronts for prostitution. KCET photo

“Most of these kids have experienced betrayal, if not worse, from people in positions of authority throughout their whole lives that skews their view of the world,” Judge Pratt said. “One of our girls even testified before Congress about the matter of foster homes who operate only for the paycheck. The girls become a commodity, and then the foster homes are no better than the pimps who exploit them for the same dollars.

“What we’re trying to do for these kids is to show them there are people in positions of authority who do care. We have 65% of our girls graduating with their peer age group from high school. That is amazing when you consider how much they have moved around.”

Do you remember your successes better or failures? After a long pause, “The failures. There aren’t too many. So far, in our 500 girls there have been no suicides, though there were attempts. Two girls were killed, one by an overdose, another when her pimp ran over her with a car.”

Judge Pratt does everything in her power to ensure these girls have a stable place to live, receive regular counseling and mentorship, and attend school as they work towards graduation.

“For the first time in their lives, our girls feel like they have a personal champion cheering them on every step of the way.”

In L.A. County, one judge treats teenage prostitutes as victims instead of criminals