9 Investigates

9 investigates judge's push to protect human trafficking victims

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County judge is preparing to pitch a plan to help identify victims of human trafficking and get them help.

A new specialty court could be launched to weed cases against potential victims out of the system.

Once a week inside an Orange County courtroom, identified addicts have the chance through specialty drug court to truly turn their lives around.

“The carrot at the end of the case is that the charge may be dropped once they complete the particular court system,” Judge Wilfredo Martinez said.

Martinez is working on a plan to expand that concept to human trafficking cases.

“We have a large amount of victims of human trafficking coming through the area,” Martinez said.

9 Investigates learned that 60 cases related to human trafficking worked their way through the Ninth Judicial Circuit in the last four years, including cases where the only charges prosecuted were prostitution-related.

Martinez wants to pilot a specialty court where only third-degree felony prostitution cases are heard, to give the women caught up in those cases the opportunity to clear their names if they were forced to work the streets.

“Many of them don't recognize they're victims and the second problem is they fear,” Martinez said.

The goal, Martinez said, would be to recognize potential victims during the first trip to the courthouse. They would be required to go to a series of counseling sessions, where they would have to self-identify as victims in order to avoid jail time.

“The idea being that they're no longer a defendant, they're a victim, and referring them to organizations that can help them get emergency housing, detox, trauma treatment,” Martinez said.

It’s a model that’s also been successful for veterans. 9 Investigates reported on the Orange County’s Veteran Court when it launched in 2013.

Since then, 200 veterans have graduated from the Ninth Circuit’s programs.

“You have a judge, case workers, sensitive to their particular situations, and that makes a whole world of difference,” Martinez said.

Martinez said he’s had conversations with Chief Judge Frederick Lauten, and he plans to pitch a final plan within the next few weeks.

Martinez said he hopes to launch a pilot program by June.