§ 2635a - Sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking of any person by force, fraud, or coercion
§ 2635a. Sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking of any person by force, fraud, or coercion
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Coercion" means:
(A) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;
(B) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious bodily harm to or physical restraint against any person; or
(C) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal process.
(2) "Commercial sex act" means any sex act on account of which anything of value is promised to, given to, or received by any person.
(3) "Venture" means any group of two or more individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal entity.
(b) No person shall knowingly:
(1) recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain by any means a person under the age of 18 for the purpose of having the person engage in a commercial sex act;
(2) compel a person through force, fraud, or coercion to engage in a commercial sex act; or
(3) benefit financially or by receiving anything of value from participation in a venture, knowing that force, fraud, or coercion was or will be used to compel any person to engage in a commercial sex act as part of the venture.
(c) A person who violates subsection (b) of this section shall be imprisoned for a term up to and including life or fined not more than $25,000.00 or both.
(d)(1) A person who is a victim of sex trafficking as defined in this section shall not be found in violation of chapter 59 (lewdness and prostitution) or 63 (obscenity) of this title for any conduct committed as a direct result of the sex trafficking or which benefits a sex trafficker.
(2) If a person who is a victim of sex trafficking as defined in this section is prosecuted for any offense, other than a violation of chapter 59 (lewdness and prostitution) or 63 (obscenity) of this title, which arises out of the sex trafficking or benefits a sex trafficker, the person may raise as an affirmative defense that he or she committed the offense as a result of force, fraud, or coercion by a sex trafficker. (Added 2009, No. 58, § 2.)