Exploring a New Data Platform for Research on Human Trafficking Investigation, Prosecution, Sentencing, Time Served, and Recidivism, United States, 2005-2013

This study uses data from the Bureau Justice of Statistics Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) to provide a new platform for basic information about the prevalence and type of human trafficking cases that result in convictions for offenses. Case records, abstractions of federal offender Presentence Reports (PSR), and investigator and prosecutor interviews were analyzed to follow human trafficking cases through the criminal justice system from sentencing to conviction to time served to recidivism or community re-entry. PSRs were used to create a sample frame by selecting all cases that were sentenced from fiscal years 2006 through 2013 where human trafficking was indicated in the case filing statutes or at investigation, but not at case conviction and sentencing.