Alabama is now the first state to automatically sentence those who are guilty of human trafficking of a minor to life in prison.

House Bill 42, sponsored by state Rep. Donna Givens (R-Loxley), was named the Sound of Freedom Act after Givens saw the movie “Sound of Freedom.” It was passed unanimously.

"Being a mother and a grandmother, anytime I would hear someone went missing or someone had been abducted, it would just break my heart," Givens said in a previous Gulf Coast Media article. "I have always been protective of my daughter and now my granddaughters. I carried two of my older grandchildren to see the movie 'Sound of Freedom' in the theaters, and when we came out of the movies, I looked at them and said, 'I am going to do a bill that makes this the toughest penalty for this crime that this nation has ever had.' And I did just that."

A study from the Department of Health and Human Services found that between 240,000 and 325,000 people are forced into sexual slavery in the United States each year. According to the Global Slavery Index, there is an estimate of more than 6,000 human trafficking victims every day in Alabama, including forced labor and sex trafficking.

Baldwin County Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Nikki Whitaker said there have been no trafficking victims come through the BCCAC.

“I can recall one scenario, and I can tell you the hardest part about that was that she never said it upon herself as fully responsible for everything that happened and she lived and basically six months of hell,” Whitaker said. “Even though she lived that horrible trauma, she did not identify as a victim. These people (those who sex traffic and abuse minors) and what they do is just beyond me as to how they are able to brainwash the way that they do anything that gets them away from our adorable children.”

The new law, which will become effective Oct. 1, will also sentence individuals who attempt to meet with a minor with the intent to commit sexual acts.

According to the Curtis Summerlin, supervisor for the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office's (BCSO) Offenders Compliance Unit, there are 398 active sex offenders in the county, five of whom traveled to engage with a minor and one international exploitation.

“As far as registered sex offenders that we keep track of, they fall into different categories within the law, but the majority of them have to register in person with us every three months,” Summerlin said. “At the sheriff’s office, we do things a little differently and go above and beyond because the legislative intent of those laws actually says that constant monitoring and tracking is paramount in public safety. Not only are they coming to visit us, but we are going to visit them.”

BCSO has three fulltime uniformed investigators that do random checks with registered sex offenders to ensure they are where they say they are.

“I think it (the bill) is a great start on protecting children,” he said.
The advocacy center's Whitaker noted she is pleased with the work done by the sheriff's office.

“I think that what they have in place is working,” she said. “I also think that the way that they have stepped up the internet crimes against kids, it's definitely making it safer to be here.”