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younger woman. Research indicates that the average age someone is forced into prostitution is between 12 and 18, she said.
• Talbot said she's pleased law officers are being trained to fight human trafficking because it amounts to slavery. No one knows the exact extent of the problem in South Dakota and the nation, she said.
• "We really don't know the scope of human trafficking," Talbot said. "It might not be a large problem in South Dakota, but then it might be. We really just don't know."
• When the 2011 South Dakota Legislature passed a law specifically outlawing human trafficking, supporters said some women had been forced to work as prostitutes during the annual motorcycle rally. Brendan Johnson, U.S. attorney for South Dakota, recently announced that a task force of local, state and federal officials will combat human trafficking in the state.
• Jackley said the state is fighting human trafficking by training officers and conducting sting operations. Officials also are studying whether state laws need to be changed, but kidnapping laws can help fight human trafficking by providing sentences of up to life in prison, he said.
• The attorney general also said he and his counterparts in nearly every other state are asking Congress to give states authority to prosecute people who run online sites that advertise prostitution. The law now gives jurisdiction to federal authorities, but states need authority to combat those crimes, he said.
• "You can hire an adult escort service, you can buy children and other things that are contrary to South Dakota law," Jackley said.
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