CUA Law professor Mary Graw Leary was quoted in a February 22 OSV Newsweekly article entitled "The push to decriminalize child prostitution As state governments address sexual exploitation of children, Catholics work to help the victims." See Below

The push to decriminalize child prostitution As state governments address sexual exploitation of children, Catholics work to help the victims

OSV Newsweekly
Date: February 22, 2017
By: Mary Leary

The state of California decriminalized prostitution acts by a minor and recognized it instead for what anti-human trafficking advocates say it is: a form of sex trafficking. The new law, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, now directs minors toward treatment and keeps traffickers and their clients in the crosshairs of law enforcement.

. . .

Both Chester and Mary Leary, a law professor at The Catholic University of America and a former prosecutor, agreed that safe harbor provisions, which under the law treat sex-trafficked minors as victims rather than criminals, should be supported.

. . .

Leary told OSV that the "biggest gap in our anti-trafficking programs" are services to help with recovery. Programs for victims of sex trafficking, she said, need to provide mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, education and other services.