Two men, one barely older than his alleged underage victim, have been accused by an Oahu grand jury of forcing local girls into prostitution in Waikiki, prosecutions that advocates for stricter child sex-trafficking laws see as progress in the fight against a pervasive crime in Hawaii.

Marquis Green, a 30-year-old Makiki man, was indicted on Christmas Eve on two counts of promoting prostitution in the first-degree, one count of sexual assault in the first degree, and one count of assault in the third degree. He was arrested on Dec. 18 at 1450 Young St.

According to court documents, Green is accused of knowingly advancing or profiting from the prostitution of a teenage girl, who was younger than 16, from May 24 to June 15. He is also accused of sexually assaulting the teen by forcing her to have sexual intercourse with him during the same period and of causing her bodily harm on or about June 15.

Green also was charged with knowingly advancing or profiting from the prostitution of another teenage girl, who was under 18, allegedly between June 8 and July 20.

In a separate case with a common victim, an Oahu grand jury indicted 19-year-old Zabreian Jackson on New Year’s Eve on two counts of promoting prostitution in the first-degree. Jackson was arrested on Dec. 27 at 1803 Tinker Ave., for allegedly prostituting the younger of Green’s alleged victims.

According to the indictment, Jackson allegedly forced, threatened, defrauded and intimidated the teen into prostitution and profited from the activity from July 15 to Aug. 15. If convicted of the prostitution-related charges, Green and Jackson would be subject to tough penalties established in 2011.

They would have their names added to the sex-offender registry and could face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine per count. If convicted of multiple counts, they also could be subject to an extended term of life in prison with parole.

State Rep. John Mizuno said the recent charges show last legislative session’s passage of a bill that added child victims of human trafficking to the state’s child abuse statutes is on target.

"Not only does our bill relate to human trafficking awareness, it also protects youth by getting into the scope of laws related to child abuse protections and services," said Mizuno (D, Kalihi-Kamehameha Heights), who introduced the bill. "We’ve gone from one of the worst ranked states for human trafficking legislation to one of the best."

The new law allows child prostitution victims access to Department of Human Services case workers and all of the accompanying benefits such as housing, therapy and other rehabilitative services, said Kathryn Xian, executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, a nonprofit that fights human trafficking in Hawaii and the Pacific.

"Prior to the passage of this bill, only child abuse victims of domestic violence were eligible for these services," Xian said. "The bill is particularly important since the average age of entry into prostitution in Hawaii is 13 and we’ve had a victim as young as 11. Juvenile victims can make thousands of dollars a night. That’s why its such a trend."

She said the law, which deemed January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month, also brings important focus to human trafficking, a serious problem in Hawaii, especially in downtown Honolulu and in Waikiki, where the alliance rescued seven child prostitutes last year.

Jerry Dolak, president of the Hawaii Hotel & Visitor Industry Security Association, said prostitution remains a strong concern for Waikiki, where the sex industry operates on different levels, from streetwalkers to escorts to prostitutes marketed as massage therapists but who offer "something extra."

"The girls on the street are only a small portion of what’s going on," Dolak said. "A lot of it is being advertised online." 

Dolak said pimps and traffickers are even less visible.

"We gave police a room last month and they were nabbing one or two prostitutes every night," he said. "It’s also a great help when they get pimps off the street. Unfortunately, there always seems to be someone to replace them."

Xian said Waikiki’s large population of tourists appeals to pimps, as does the high numbers of street kids who make Waikiki a prime recruiting zone for young prostitutes.

Mizuno said police have told him that there’s an equally worrisome trend of local kids who are being groomed to pimp and recruit.

"You might have a 14- or a 15-year-old (recruiter) telling their soccer buddies to come to a party and have a good time with a bunch of other kids. It seems innocent enough, but then (their guests) get locked in," he said. "The pimp will sexually assault the kids and say if you run back to your family, we’ll kill them. The (victims) feel hopeless and end up getting sex-trafficked."

Police tell stories of pimps or young recruiters picking up local teens at malls or other hangouts or offering shelter to vulnerable ones, Dolak said.

"They grab runaways who are vulnerable and supply shelter and get them drug addicted," he said. "Other times, they get the kids messed up, take photos and disgrace them so they are too ashamed to go home to their families."

Xian, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for urban Honolulu’s 1st Congressional District seat, said in many cases female victims of prostitution and boy pimps will share similar backgrounds such as suffering from neglect or abuse, coming from a broken home, or having a history of running away.

"While we’ve always seen young baby pimps or wannabe pimps, we’ve just officially recognized that some of them are being groomed by older pimps. We’ve also seen a few cases where female victims have acted as recruiters," she said. "They didn’t just wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to be a pimp.’ They learned strict, specific street rules that don’t come naturally to a child." 

Xian said the recent indictments, including the charges against an alleged teen pimp, should serve as a wake-up call to the public.

Mizuno said he will work with the alliance to get legislative reforms passed that further protect prostitution survivors, allow them eligibility for victim compensation, criminalize online advertising of prostitution, and establish a state fund for services specifically for victims of trafficking.