A state judge has vacated a sex trafficking victim’s 86 prostitution-related convictions. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Lynn R. Kotler vacated Silvia Gonzalez’s convictions for either prostitution or loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense, citing a 2010 amendment to Criminal Procedure Law §440, which permits such vacaturs when the defendant is shown to be a sex trafficking victim.
According to the ruling in People v. Gonzalez, 93N022568, Ms. Gonzalez was blackmailed into prostitution from about 1993 to 1995 by a woman identified as Marisol. Ms. Gonzalez turned over her immigration documents when Marisol promised she could help Ms. Gonzalez with her status. Ms. Gonzalez retrieved her documents after her last arrest in June 1995. She now lives with her mother and works as a house cleaner. Her current immigration status is unclear, the decision notes.
