Bill Text: NY A01029 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides immunity from prosecution for certain individuals engaged in prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime and who report such crime or assist in the investigation or prosecution.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 36-3)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-08 - referred to codes [A01029 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A01029-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1029

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     January 8, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. KELLES, SEAWRIGHT, SAYEGH, SIMON, STECK, PAULIN,
          GALLAGHER, VANEL, OTIS, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, EPSTEIN, CRUZ,  GLICK,  LEVEN-
          BERG,  BURDICK, SHIMSKY, LAVINE, LEMONDES, McDONOUGH, SHRESTHA, MAMDA-
          NI,  REYES,  HUNTER,  BICHOTTE HERMELYN,  FORREST,  STERN,   DINOWITZ,
          R. CARROLL,   GIBBS,  SIMONE,  DAIS,  CUNNINGHAM,  WALKER,  DeSTEFANO,
          WEPRIN, ANDERSON, TAPIA, TAYLOR, MEEKS -- read once  and  referred  to
          the Committee on Codes

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the penal law, in relation to individuals engaged in
          prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 230.45 to
     2  read as follows:
     3  § 230.45 Immunity from prosecution.
     4    This section applies where a person is the victim of or a witness to a
     5  crime (including an individual who becomes aware that another person  is
     6  a  victim  of a crime), and has engaged or is alleged to have engaged in
     7  an act prohibited under section 230.00, 230.03, or 230.40 of this  arti-
     8  cle  at  or  in  reasonable  proximity to the time of the crime or under
     9  circumstances reasonably related to the crime, and, in good  faith,  (a)
    10  reports  the  crime  to  a criminal law enforcement agency, (b) seeks or
    11  receives health care services as a result of the crime, or  (c)  assists
    12  or  attempts to assist in the investigation or prosecution of the crime.
    13  No such victim or witness to the crime shall be  charged  or  prosecuted
    14  for the offense under section 230.00, 230.03, or 230.40 of this article.
    15  As  used  in  this section, "crime" shall include an act that reasonably
    16  appears to be a crime, regardless of whether it results in a  conviction
    17  as a crime.
    18    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    19  have become a law, and shall apply to  any  prosecution  pending  on  or
    20  after the time it shall take effect.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00064-01-5