(NewsNation) — Recent news reports about the sex-trafficking of minors in a notorious Los Angeles red-light district have circled back to a California legislative reform that critics and observers say has resulted in unintended consequences.
In July 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the “Safer Streets for All Act” (SB 357), which barred police from arresting suspected prostitutes who loiter in public. Proponents of the measure said the law, which took effect in 2023, would end harassment of suspected sex workers, including transgender women, thus cutting down on the targeting of females and minorities.
At the time, Newsom — a Democrat widely seen as a 2028 presidential contender — said the legislation was meant to stop the “disproportionate harassment of women and transgender adults,” but he didn’t rule out future legislative review to mitigate “any possible unintended consequences.”
More than three years later, bombshell articles suggest those unforeseen results may have arrived.
LA red-light district is known as ‘Kiddie Stroll’
In an investigative piece published this month, The New York Times detailed the prevalence of scantily clad, underage sex workers being trafficked in L.A.’s notorious South Figueroa Street corridor. That area of the city is known also as “the Blade” and by the nickname coined by local prosecutors: the “Kiddie Stroll.”
The paper said many of the girls are former foster children recruited by traffickers from group homes, either by conning them through brief romances or by brutalizing them up front.
Under the California law change, the NYT said, uniformed officers can no longer round up suspected prostitutes with the intent of recovering a minor among them. Officers instead must suspect that each girl is underage, a near-impossible standard when the loitering females are wearing adult attire and makeup.
The New York Post, which did its own exposé, said SB 357 prohibits police from approaching a trafficked minor based on how they are dressed, even if that minor is wearing lingerie.
Minor girls, foster kids targeted for prostitution: Officials
Stephany Powell, a former L.A. sergeant in the vice division and anti-trafficking advocate, told the Post the California law change ended up sending signals to pimps to “work those girls even harder.”
Federal prosecutors in August announced racketeering charges against members of a South Los Angeles criminal gang who “largely controlled sex trafficking and prostitution in Figuero Corridor.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office said gang members focused on minor girls and young women.
“The exploitation of vulnerable women and children through sex trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes our society faces,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a news release announcing the charges. “The victims in this case — many of them minors, runaways, or from the foster care system — were preyed upon by individuals who sought to profit from their pain.”
Did California law unleash sex-trafficking of underage girls? IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2025-11-01 00:54:39 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
