Bill Text: NJ A3384 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns human trafficking of a minor.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-10-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A3384 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A3384-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns human trafficking of a minor.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning human trafficking and amending P.L.2005, c.77.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2005, c.77 (C.2c:13-8) is amended to read as follows:
1. Human trafficking. a. A person commits the crime of human trafficking if he :
(1) knowingly holds, recruits, lures, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains, by any means, another, to engage in sexual activity as defined in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:34-1 or to provide labor or services:
(a) by threats of serious bodily harm or physical restraint against the person or any other person;
(b) by means of any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that the person or any other person would suffer serious bodily harm or physical restraint;
(c) by committing a violation of N.J.S.2C:13-5 against the person; or
(d) by destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any passport, immigration-related document as defined in section 1 of P.L.1997, c.1 (C.2C:21-31), or other document issued by a governmental agency to any person which could be used as a means of verifying the person's identity or age or any other personal identifying information; or
(e) by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of the law or legal process; [or]
(2) receives anything of value from participation as an organizer, supervisor, financier or manager or benefits financially in a scheme or course of conduct which violates paragraph (1) or (3) of this subsection; or
(3) knowingly holds, recruits, lures, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains, by any means a person under the age of 18 years, to engage in sexual activity as defined in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:34-1 or provide labor or services.
b. An offense under this section constitutes a crime of the first degree.
c. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a violation of this section that, during the time of the alleged commission of the offense of human trafficking created by this section, the defendant was a victim of human trafficking.
d. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:43-6, the term of imprisonment imposed for a crime of the first degree under paragraph (2) of subsection a. shall be either a term of 20 years during which the actor shall not be eligible for parole, or a specific term between 20 years and life imprisonment, of which the actor shall serve 20 years before being eligible for parole.
e. In addition to any other disposition authorized by law, any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be sentenced to make restitution to any victim. The court shall award to the victim restitution which is the greater of:
(1) the gross income or value to the defendant of the victim's labor or services; or
(2) the value of the victim's labor or services as determined by the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act," P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.), the "New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law," P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), the Seasonal Farm Labor Act, P.L.1945, c.71 (C.34:9A-1 et seq.), the laws concerning the regulation of child labor in chapter 2 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes, or any other applicable State law, and the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 29 U.S.C. s.201 et seq. or any other applicable federal law.
(cf: P.L.2005, c.77, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under the human trafficking statute, a person commits the crime of human trafficking if he:
(1) knowingly holds, recruits, lures, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains, by any means, another, to engage in unlawful sexual activity or to provide labor or services:
· by threats of serious bodily harm or physical restraint against the person or any other person;
· by means of any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that the person or any other person would suffer serious bodily harm or physical restraint;
· by criminal coercion; or
· by destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any passport, immigration-related document or other government document; or
· by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of the law or legal process; or
(2) receives anything of value from participation as an organizer, supervisor, financier or manager in a scheme or course of conduct which violates paragraph (1) of this subsection.
This bill eliminates proving the additional elements of human trafficking with regard to a person under the age of 18 such as by threat of serious bodily injury, by means of any scheme or plan intended to cause serious bodily injury, by criminal coercion, by destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing a passport or by means of abuse or threatened abuse of the law. Therefore, under the provisions of the bill, a person would be guilty of the crime of human trafficking if that person knowingly holds, recruits, lures, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains, by any means a person under the age of 18 years, to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
The bill also expands the reach of the statute by including those individuals who receive a financial benefit from participating in human trafficking without necessarily being an "organizer, supervisor, financier or manager" of the enterprise or scheme, such as drivers or hotel employees.
