Bill Text: MS HB158 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: "Justice for Trafficked Minors Act"; create to require life imprisonment of traffickers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-10 - Referred To Judiciary B [HB158 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2025-HB158-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Newman
House Bill 158
AN ACT TO CREATE THE "JUSTICE FOR TRAFFICKED MINORS ACT"; AMEND SECTION 97-3-54.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE PENALTY FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF A MINOR TO A MANDATORY MINIMUM OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 97-29-51, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE PENALTY FOR PROCUREMENT OF PROSTITUTION OF A MINOR TO A MANDATORY MINIMUM OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Justice for Trafficked Minors Act".
SECTION 2. Section 97-3-54.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-3-54.1. (1) (a) A person who coerces, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to coerce, recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, another person, intending or knowing that the person will be subjected to forced labor or services, or who benefits, whether financially or by receiving anything of value from participating in an enterprise that he knows or reasonably should have known has engaged in such acts, shall be guilty of the crime of human trafficking.
(b) A person who knowingly purchases the forced labor or services of a trafficked person or who otherwise knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or services or who benefits, whether financially or by receiving anything of value from participating in an enterprise that he knows or reasonably should have known has engaged in such acts, shall be guilty of the crime of procuring involuntary servitude.
(c) Except as
otherwise provided in this section, a person who knowingly subjects, or
attempts to subject, or who recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or
obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor, transport,
provide or obtain by any means, a minor, knowing that the minor will engage in
commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of
sexually oriented material, or causes or attempts to cause a minor to engage in
commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of
sexually oriented material, shall be guilty of procuring sexual servitude of a
minor and shall be punished by commitment to the custody of the Department of
Corrections for not less than twenty (20) years nor more than life in prison, * * * by a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand
Dollars ($50,000.00) nor more than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00),
or both, or life imprisonment as authorized by this paragraph. It is
not a defense in a prosecution under this section that a minor consented to
engage in the commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the
production of sexually oriented material, or that the defendant reasonably
believed that the minor was eighteen (18) years of age or older. In any
prosecution under this paragraph (c) where the defendant is nineteen (19) years
of age or older and the trafficking victim is a minor, the court shall sentence
the defendant to a minimum of life imprisonment.
(2) If the victim is not a minor, a person who is convicted of an offense set forth in subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section shall be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) nor more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or both. If the victim of the offense is a minor, a person who is convicted of an offense set forth in subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section shall be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than twenty (20) years nor more than life in prison, or by a fine of not less than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) nor more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or both.
(3) An enterprise may be prosecuted for an offense under this chapter if:
(a) An agent of the enterprise knowingly engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under this chapter while acting within the scope of employment and for the benefit of the entity.
(b) An employee of the enterprise engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under this chapter and the commission of the offense was part of a pattern of illegal activity for the benefit of the enterprise, which an agent of the enterprise either knew was occurring or recklessly disregarded, and the agent failed to take effective action to stop the illegal activity.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution of an enterprise that the enterprise had in place adequate procedures, including an effective complaint procedure, designed to prevent persons associated with the enterprise from engaging in the unlawful conduct and to promptly correct any violations of this chapter.
(d) The court may consider the severity of the enterprise's offense and order penalties, including: (i) a fine of not more than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00); (ii) disgorgement of profit; and (iii) debarment from government contracts. Additionally, the court may order any of the relief provided in Section 97-3-54.7.
(4) In addition to the mandatory reporting provisions contained in Sections 43-21-353 and 97-5-51, any person who has reasonable cause to suspect that a minor under the age of eighteen (18) is a trafficked person shall immediately make a report of the suspected child abuse or neglect to the Department of Child Protection Services and to the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator. The Department of Child Protection Services or the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator, whichever is applicable, shall then immediately notify the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the suspected child abuse, neglect or trafficking occurred as required in Section 43-21-353, and the department that received the report shall also commence an initial investigation into the suspected abuse or neglect as required in Section 43-21-353. The department that received such report shall provide an annual report to the Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, the Lieutenant Governor, the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that includes the number of reports received, the number of cases screened in or out, the number of cases in which care and services were provided as a result of the report, and the type of care and services that were provided. A minor who has been identified as a victim of trafficking shall not be liable for criminal activity in violation of this section.
(5) It is an affirmative defense in a prosecution under this act that the defendant:
(a) Is a victim; and
(b) Committed the offense under a reasonable apprehension created by a person that, if the defendant did not commit the act, the person would inflict serious harm on the defendant, a member of the defendant's family, or a close associate.
SECTION 3. Section 97-29-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-29-51. (1) (a) A person commits the misdemeanor of procuring the services of a prostitute if the person knowingly or intentionally pays, or offers or agrees to pay, money or other property to another person for having engaged in, or on the understanding that the other person will engage in, sexual intercourse or sexual conduct with the person or with any other person. "Sexual conduct" includes cunnilingus, fellatio, masturbation of another, anal intercourse or the causing of penetration to any extent and with any object or body part of the genital or anal opening of another.
(b) Upon conviction under this subsection, a person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) or by confinement in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both. A second or subsequent violation of this section shall be a felony, punishable by a fine not exceeding One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than two (2) years, or both.
(c) * * * Except as otherwise provided in this
section, in all cases, if the person whose services are procured in
violation of this subsection (1) is a minor under eighteen (18) years of age,
the person convicted shall be guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction, be
punished by imprisonment for not less than five (5) years, nor more than
thirty (30) years, * * *
by a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) nor more than
Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00), or both, or life imprisonment
as authorized by this paragraph (c). In any prosecution under this paragraph
where the defendant is nineteen (19) years of age or older and the trafficking
victim is a minor, the court shall sentence the defendant to a minimum of life
imprisonment.
(d) Consent of a minor is not a defense to prosecution under this subsection (1).
(2) (a) A person commits the felony of promoting prostitution if the person:
(i) Knowingly or intentionally entices, compels, causes, induces, persuades, or encourages by promise, threat, violence, or by scheme or device, another person to become a prostitute, engage in conduct in violation of Section 97-29-49, regardless of whether the other person can be or is arrested for, charged with or convicted of the offense of prostitution;
(ii) Knowingly or intentionally solicits or offers or agrees to solicit, or receives or gives, or agrees to receive or give any money or thing of value for soliciting, or attempting to solicit, another person for the purpose of prostitution;
(iii) Knowingly induces, persuades, or encourages a person to come into or leave this state for the purpose of prostitution;
(iv) Having control over the use of a place or vehicle, knowingly or intentionally permits another person to use the place or vehicle for prostitution;
(v) Accepts, receives, levies or appropriates money or other property of value from a prostitute, without lawful consideration, with knowledge or reasonable cause to know it was earned, in whole or in part, from prostitution; or
(vi) Conducts, directs, takes, or transports, or offers or agrees to take or transport, or aids or assists in transporting, any person to any vehicle, conveyance, place, structure, or building, or to any other person with knowledge or reasonable cause to know that the purpose of such directing, taking or transporting is prostitution.
(b) Upon conviction, a person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than ten (10) years, or both. A second or subsequent violation shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) or by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for up to twenty (20) years, or both.
(c) However, in all cases, if the person whose services are promoted in violation of this subsection (2) is a minor under eighteen (18) years of age, the person convicted shall be guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment for not less than five (5) years, nor more than thirty (30) years, or by a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) nor more than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00), or both. There is no requirement that the defendant have actual knowledge of the age of the person, and consent of a minor is not a defense to prosecution under this section.
(3) If it is determined that a person suspected of or charged with promoting prostitution is a trafficked person, as defined by Section 97-3-54.4, that fact shall be considered a mitigating factor in any prosecution of that person for prostitution, and the person shall be referred to appropriate resources for assistance. If it is determined that a person suspected of or charged with promoting prostitution is a minor under eighteen (18) years of age who meets the definition of a trafficked person as defined in Section 97-3-54.4, the minor is immune from prosecution for promoting prostitution as a juvenile or adult and provisions of Section 97-3-54.1(4) shall be applicable.
(4) Any partnership, association, corporation or other entity violating any provision of subsection (2) against the promotion of prostitution shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00). If the person whose services are promoted is under eighteen (18) years of age, the partnership, association, corporation or other legal entity convicted shall be punished by a fine not exceeding One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00). There is no requirement that the defendant have knowledge of the age of the person. Consent of a minor is not a defense to prosecution under this section.
(5) Investigation and prosecution of a person, partnership, association, corporation or other entity under this section shall not preclude investigation or prosecution against that person, partnership, association, corporation or other entity for a violation of other applicable criminal laws, including, but not limited to, the Mississippi Human Trafficking Act, Section 97-3-54 et seq.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.
