Warner helps secure gubernatorial pardon for human trafficking survivor

Leslie King. Courtesy Warner Norcross + Judd

Thanks to the work of a Warner Norcross + Judd partner, Sacred Beginnings founder Leslie King’s record has been expunged, setting her free to pursue higher education.

A pro bono team of Warner Norcross + Judd attorneys helped secure what is believed to be Michigan’s first gubernatorial pardon of a survivor of human trafficking.

The pardon, which was issued to Leslie King, was secured by Warner in partnership with The Joseph Project, a Michigan nonprofit connecting human trafficking survivors to pro bono legal services. 

Warner and The Joseph Project secured a pardon from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just before Christmas. Warner partner Madelaine Lane represented King through the process. 

King founded and leads Sacred Beginnings, a peer mentored program in Grand Rapids for those who have been sexually exploited/trafficked. Thanks to the pardon, King is now free to begin her journey to become a licensed social worker. Her criminal record, which included sentences for shoplifting, larceny, assault, prostitution, narcotics possession and other crimes committed while she was trafficked, has been expunged. 

King was coerced into prostitution at the age of 15, and spent the next 20 years of her life in a cycle of prostitution and drug addiction. Last summer, King told the Michigan Parole Board her traffickers beat her and forced her into illegal activity. 

“Crimes committed while someone is being trafficked must be looked at differently by the criminal justice system,” Lane said. “These are not voluntary actions of someone who has made a poor choice — those who are being trafficked are coerced, intimidated and threatened with beatings or worse if they don’t comply.

“We are incredibly grateful to Gov. Whitmer for supporting the recommendation of the Michigan Parole Board and granting Leslie a pardon. This decision gives her the clean slate she needs to pursue her Master of Social Work degree so she can even better serve those still being victimized by human and sex trafficking in West Michigan.”

Madelaine Lane. Courtesy Warner Norcross + Judd

According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, “The Michigan Supreme Court has held that the effect of a pardon by the governor is such that it ‘releases the punishment and blots out of existence the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense.’ … A pardon is an extraordinary form of relief for someone convicted of a crime and is extremely rare.” 

Added King, “I truly thank Gov. Whitmer, because this is a dream come true for me. I couldn’t get an expungement of my record. I’ve already received emails from women who have records who said this now gives them hope.

“I also want to thank The Joseph Project and Madelaine Lane from Warner for standing beside me and keeping me uplifted during this fight. I can’t thank them enough.”

King, a Grand Rapids native, founded Sacred Beginnings in 2005. It is the only survivor-led, peer-mentored program in Michigan for those who have been sexually exploited and trafficked. King and her team have reached more than 20,000 people with their weekly street outreach since 2005, and served more than 2,300 people in its transition homes.

In addition to her work at Sacred Beginnings, King serves on the boards of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force and Cherry Health. She is also a member of the National Survivor Network.