Despite increased awareness of sex trafficking of minors in the U.S., prosecution of traffickers remains difficult, in part because of victim uncooperativeness. There are questions about how that uncooperativeness is expressed, whether it is evident in successfully prosecuted cases, and whether it is unique to trafficked minors or it emerges in similar age victims of sexual abuse. To provide insight relevant to these questions, we compared appellate opinions in two types of successfully prosecuted criminal cases: sex trafficking and sexual abuse of adolescent victims. In the trafficking opinions, victims were rarely described as disclosing on their own or as knowing their trafficker before the victimization. The opinions also often alluded to the trafficking victims' uncooperativeness and delinquency history, and frequently mentioned electronic evidence and prosecution experts. The sexual abuse opinions, in contrast, tended to suggest that victims' own disclosures initiated the case, perpetrators were known and trusted adults, and caregiver support during the case was common. Finally, the sexual abuse opinions never explicitly mentioned victim uncooperativeness or electronic evidence and rarely mentioned expert testimony or delinquency. The different characterizations of the two case types highlight the need for improved education concerning effective prosecution of sex crimes against minors.

中文翻译：

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对未成年人性贩运和性虐待的成功刑事起诉：比较分析。

尽管美国对未成年人性贩运的认识有所提高，但起诉贩运者仍然很困难，部分原因是受害者不合作。人们对这种不合作的表现方式存在疑问，这种不合作在成功起诉的案件中是否明显，以及这种不合作是否是被贩运的未成年人所特有的，还是出现在类似年龄的性虐待受害者中。为了提供与这些问题相关的见解，我们比较了两类成功起诉的刑事案件的上诉意见：性贩运和青少年受害者的性虐待。在贩运人口意见中，受害者很少被描述为自己透露或在受害前认识贩运者。这些意见还经常提到贩运受害者的不合作和犯罪历史，以及经常提到的电子证据和起诉专家。相比之下，性虐待意见往往表明，受害者自己的披露引发了案件，肇事者是已知且值得信赖的成年人，案件期间护理人员的支持很常见。最后，性虐待意见从未明确提及受害者的不合作或电子证据，也很少提及专家证词或犯罪行为。两种案件类型的不同特征突出表明需要加强有关有效起诉针对未成年人的性犯罪的教育。性虐待意见从未明确提及受害者的不合作或电子证据，也很少提及专家证词或犯罪行为。两种案件类型的不同特征突出表明需要加强有关有效起诉针对未成年人的性犯罪的教育。性虐待意见从未明确提及受害者的不合作或电子证据，也很少提及专家证词或犯罪行为。两种案件类型的不同特征突出表明需要加强有关有效起诉针对未成年人的性犯罪的教育。