Sex Trafficking Victim Obtains Relief

Cleary Gottlieb, in partnership with The Legal Aid Society, recently obtained relief on behalf of S.C., a victim of sex trafficking, by vacating her twenty-five year old prostitution conviction and clearing her criminal record.

A 2011 amendment to New York CPL § 440.10 permits victims of sex trafficking to vacate their prostitution convictions. S.C. was trafficked into prostitution as a homeless youth in Upstate New York. S.C. finally escaped from prostitution in her late teens, but a criminal conviction for prostitution continued to haunt her. On October 24, 2012, the Judge vacated S.C.’s conviction. This is the first decision under the 2011 amendment outside of the five boroughs of New York City, and a great personal victory for S.C.