BILL NUMBER: S3171

SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to sex trafficking of a
vulnerable person

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would make it easier for prosecutors to bring charges against
those who exploit disabled individuals for sex trafficking, and would
establish the crime of predatory sex trafficking as a class A-II felony.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the penal law by adding a new subdivision 2 to

§ 230.34-a to provide that a person is guilty of sex trafficking of a
vulnerable person when he or she intentionally profits from the prosti-
tution of a vulnerable person and by amending subdivision 3 of

              

§ 230.34-a to define "vulnerable person".

Section 2 amends the penal law by adding a new § 130.97 to establish
that a person is guilty of predatory sex trafficking, when being 18
years of age or older, he or she commits the crime of sex trafficking of
a child or vulnerable person, and establishes that predatory sex traf-
ficking is a class A-II felony.

Section 3 provides the effective date.

 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

Original

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Children are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked for sex. The
Legislature recognized both the heinousness of this crime and the diffi-
culty in bringing perpetrators to justice when it enacted chapter 189 of
the laws of 2018. Chapter 189 of the laws of 2018 established the crit-
ically needed criminal charge of sex trafficking of a child by eliminat-
ing the need to prove force, fraud or coercion.

A similar vulnerability exists with respect to victims of sex traffick-
ing who are mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated or physically
helpless. (1)

This bill therefor amends Penal Law § 130.97 to add the sex trafficking
of vulnerable persons to the current law regarding the sex trafficking
of children.

Preying upon children and vulnerable persons for sex trafficking is
especially heinous conduct. Establishing predatory sex trafficking as a
class A-II felony is therefore appropriate.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.2369 of 2019-2020;

A.11375 of 2017-2018

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
90 days after it shall have become a law.
(1) A recent study relating to sex trafficking of girls found that 28%
of sex trafficking cases in two metropolitan regions in Florida involved
girls with intellectual disabilities. Given the estimates that somewhere
between 1-3% of U.S. nationals have intellectual disabilities, the high
percentage of girls with intellectual disabilities within the study
sample indicates that girls with intellectual disabilities face a
disproportionately high risk of exploitation in juvenile sex traffick-
ing. Reid, Joan A., Sex Trafficking of Girls with Intellectual Disabili-
ties: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study.. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of
Research and Treatment (February 17, 2016). Similarly, prior studies
have documented disproportionate rates of sexual abuse and sexual
assault against victims with intellectual disabilities, noting that poor
communicative skills and greater dependence may diminish the ability of
victims to resist the authority and power of an abuser. Wissink et al,
Sexual Abuse Involving Children with an Intellectual Disability (ID): a
narrative review (January 2015).