PAUL HERBERT: Now I know why I really became a judge, and that was to start CATCH Court. I was in arraignment court one day, and we had a record number of domestic violence cases. And I got to see all of the abuse- the hair pulled out, cuts, bruises.
The Sheriff brought another defendant out- a woman in chains- and she looked like one of these domestic violence victims. And I looked down at the file, and it said, "Prostitute." That really struck a nerve. I spent a lot of time interviewing the women, finding out, "What led you here?" These women that walk through that door really are victims rather than defendants.
CATCH Court started in the fall of 2009, and provides the exit strategy out of the lifestyle of being trafficked. It's a 2-year intensive probationary period that they enter in voluntarily. We provide housing, treatment, job skills, education opportunities. Whatever a woman needs, we provide it for them.
VANESSA PERKINS: It has absolutely changed my life. They dropped me into a room of women who have been through the things that I've gone through. They carry me through that fear and through the guilt and the love, and we hold each other accountable.
PAUL HERBERT: They're bright and going to school, getting jobs. They're being reunited with their children and their families. That's been miraculous. It is so humbling to see them blossom.
VANESSA PERKINS: I would not be who I am if it wasn't for him, and not only because of CATCH Court, because of him as an individual, as a person that I get to look up to.
PAUL HERBERT: I love being in court and being their judge. To witness the glory of someone finding who they really are and living it out is undescribeable. And in my mind, that's what justice ought to be about.
