FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DA TESTIFIES ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING

San Antonio, Texas: June 3, 2010

District Attorney Susan Reed was invited by Chairman Pete Gallego (D- Alpine) to testify this morning before a joint hearing comprising both the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence and the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. Rep. Gallego is the Chairman of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. Judge Reed spoke at the Joint Hearing regarding issues concerning the problem of Human Trafficking in Texas. Judge Reed is currently a member of the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force created by the Texas Legislature last session and her office prosecutes these types of cases.

Judge Reed testified about the need for enhanced legislation to combat this problem by among other things lengthening the statute of limitations. She also stressed the need for new legislation creating programs for the treatment of victims of human trafficking who are often juveniles forced into illegal sexual activity.

The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office is currently a member of the South Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking & Slavery. The District Attorney’s Office has been at the forefront of this initiative addressing these kinds of cases having prosecuted one of the very first human trafficking cases in the state. The office is also currently prosecuting pending human trafficking cases.

For more information, contact Susan D. Reed, Bexar County Criminal District Attorney, at 335-2342.