WASHINGTON ¨C The administration of U.S. President Donald?Trump has repeatedly said the fight against sex trafficking is one of its top priorities.
But investigations have stalled and prosecutions declined in the past six months because of staffing shortages, funding cuts, immigration enforcement and growing distrust of the government among victims, according to interviews with 25 former prosecutors, current agents and victims¡¯ advocates, and a review of federal court records.
¡°You can¡¯t say something is a priority and then not provide the resources to make that happen,¡± said Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in New York who led the prosecution of rapper and actor Sean ¡°Diddy¡± Combs, who was accused of sex trafficking and was convicted last year on two counts of transportation for prostitution.
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