Bill Text: TX HB1808 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain trafficking and sexual offenses; creating a criminal offense.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - See remarks for effective date [HB1808 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB1808-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 1808

AN ACT
relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain trafficking
and sexual offenses; creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 20A.02(b), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an
offense under this section is a felony of the second degree. An
offense under this section is a felony of the first degree if:
(1) the applicable conduct constitutes an offense
under Subsection (a)(5), (6), (7), or (8), regardless of whether
the actor knows the age of the child at the time of [the actor
commits] the offense; or
(2) the commission of the offense results in the death
of the person who is trafficked.
SECTION 2. Section 21.02(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) A person commits an offense if:
(1) during a period that is 30 or more days in
duration, the person commits two or more acts of sexual abuse,
regardless of whether the acts of sexual abuse are committed
against one or more victims; and
(2) at the time of the commission of each of the acts
of sexual abuse, the actor is 17 years of age or older and the victim
is a child younger than 14 years of age, regardless of whether the
actor knows the age of the victim at the time of the offense.
SECTION 3. Section 21.11(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, with a child younger
than 17 years of age, whether the child is of the same or opposite
sex and regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child
at the time of the offense, the person:
(1) engages in sexual contact with the child or causes
the child to engage in sexual contact; or
(2) with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire
of any person:
(A) exposes the person's anus or any part of the
person's genitals, knowing the child is present; or
(B) causes the child to expose the child's anus
or any part of the child's genitals.
SECTION 4. (a) This section takes effect only if the Act of
the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, relating to
nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes
becomes law.
(b) Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding Section
21.18 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.18. SEXUAL COERCION. (a) In this section:
(1) "Intimate visual material" means the visual
material described by Section 21.16(b)(1) or (c).
(2) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by
Section 43.25.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense
under Chapter 43 or Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8), 21.02,
21.08, 21.11, 21.12, 21.15, 21.16, 21.17, 22.011, or 22.021 to
obtain, in return for not committing the threatened offense or in
connection with the threatened offense, any of the following
benefits:
(1) intimate visual material;
(2) an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or
gratification; or
(3) a monetary benefit or other benefit of value.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense
under Chapter 19 or 20 or Section 20A.02(a)(1), (2), (5), or (6) to
obtain, in return for not committing the threatened offense or in
connection with the threatened offense, either of the following
benefits:
(1) intimate visual material; or
(2) an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or
gratification.
(d) This section applies to a threat regardless of how that
threat is communicated, including a threat transmitted through
e-mail or an Internet website, social media account, or chat room
and a threat made by other electronic or technological means.
(e) An offense under this section is a state jail felony,
except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if it is
shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant has previously
been convicted of an offense under this section.
SECTION 5. (a) This section takes effect only if the Act of
the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, relating to
nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes does
not become law.
(b) Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding Section
21.18 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.18. SEXUAL COERCION. (a) In this section:
(1) "Intimate visual material" means the visual
material described by Section 21.16(b)(1) or (c), as added by
Chapter 852 (S.B. 1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2015.
(2) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by
Section 43.25.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense
under Chapter 43 or Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8), 21.02,
21.08, 21.11, 21.12, 21.15, 21.16, as added by Chapter 852 (S.B.
1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, 21.16,
as added by Chapter 676 (H.B. 207), Acts of the 84th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2015, 22.011, or 22.021 to obtain, in return for
not committing the threatened offense or in connection with the
threatened offense, any of the following benefits:
(1) intimate visual material;
(2) an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or
gratification; or
(3) a monetary benefit or other benefit of value.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense
under Chapter 19 or 20 or Section 20A.02(a)(1), (2), (5), or (6) to
obtain, in return for not committing the threatened offense or in
connection with the threatened offense, either of the following
benefits:
(1) intimate visual material; or
(2) an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or
gratification.
(d) This section applies to a threat regardless of how that
threat is communicated, including a threat transmitted through
e-mail or an Internet website, social media account, or chat room
and a threat made by other electronic or technological means.
(e) An offense under this section is a state jail felony,
except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if it is
shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant has previously
been convicted of an offense under this section.
SECTION 6. Sections 22.011(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if [the person]:
(1) the person intentionally or knowingly:
(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual
organ of another person by any means, without that person's
consent;
(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of
another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that
person's consent; or
(C) causes the sexual organ of another person,
without that person's consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth,
anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; or
(2) regardless of whether the person knows the age of
the child at the time of the offense, the person intentionally or
knowingly:
(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual
organ of a child by any means;
(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of a
child by the sexual organ of the actor;
(C) causes the sexual organ of a child to contact
or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person,
including the actor;
(D) causes the anus of a child to contact the
mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the
actor; or
(E) causes the mouth of a child to contact the
anus or sexual organ of another person, including the actor.
(b) A sexual assault under Subsection (a)(1) is without the
consent of the other person if:
(1) the actor compels the other person to submit or
participate by the use of physical force, [or] violence, or
coercion;
(2) the actor compels the other person to submit or
participate by threatening to use force or violence against the
other person or to cause harm to the other person, and the other
person believes that the actor has the present ability to execute
the threat;
(3) the other person has not consented and the actor
knows the other person is unconscious or physically unable to
resist;
(4) the actor knows that as a result of mental disease
or defect the other person is at the time of the sexual assault
incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting
it;
(5) the other person has not consented and the actor
knows the other person is unaware that the sexual assault is
occurring;
(6) the actor has intentionally impaired the other
person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by
administering any substance without the other person's knowledge;
(7) the actor compels the other person to submit or
participate by threatening to use force or violence against any
person, and the other person believes that the actor has the ability
to execute the threat;
(8) the actor is a public servant who coerces the other
person to submit or participate;
(9) the actor is a mental health services provider or a
health care services provider who causes the other person, who is a
patient or former patient of the actor, to submit or participate by
exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the actor;
(10) the actor is a clergyman who causes the other
person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's
emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's
professional character as spiritual adviser; or
(11) the actor is an employee of a facility where the
other person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are
formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2,
Family Code.
SECTION 7. Section 22.021(a), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense:
(1) if the person:
(A) intentionally or knowingly:
(i) causes the penetration of the anus or
sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person's
consent;
(ii) causes the penetration of the mouth of
another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that
person's consent; or
(iii) causes the sexual organ of another
person, without that person's consent, to contact or penetrate the
mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the
actor; or
(B) regardless of whether the person knows the
age of the child at the time of the offense, intentionally or
knowingly:
(i) causes the penetration of the anus or
sexual organ of a child by any means;
(ii) causes the penetration of the mouth of
a child by the sexual organ of the actor;
(iii) causes the sexual organ of a child to
contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another
person, including the actor;
(iv) causes the anus of a child to contact
the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the
actor; or
(v) causes the mouth of a child to contact
the anus or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; and
(2) if:
(A) the person:
(i) causes serious bodily injury or
attempts to cause the death of the victim or another person in the
course of the same criminal episode;
(ii) by acts or words places the victim in
fear that any person will become the victim of an offense under
Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8) or that death, serious
bodily injury, or kidnapping will be imminently inflicted on any
person;
(iii) by acts or words occurring in the
presence of the victim threatens to cause any person to become the
victim of an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8) or
to cause the death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping of any
person;
(iv) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon in the
course of the same criminal episode;
(v) acts in concert with another who
engages in conduct described by Subdivision (1) directed toward the
same victim and occurring during the course of the same criminal
episode; or
(vi) with the intent of facilitating the
commission of the offense, administers or provides [flunitrazepam,
otherwise known as rohypnol, gamma hydroxybutyrate, or ketamine] to
the victim of the offense any substance capable of impairing the
victim's ability to appraise the nature of the act or to resist the
act [with the intent of facilitating the commission of the
offense];
(B) the victim is younger than 14 years of age,
regardless of whether the person knows the age of the victim at the
time of the offense; or
(C) the victim is an elderly individual or a
disabled individual.
SECTION 8. Section 43.02, Penal Code, as amended by
Chapters 332 (H.B. 10) and 1273 (S.B. 825), Acts of the 84th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is amended by reenacting
Subsection (c) and reenacting and amending Subsection (c-1) to read
as follows:
(c) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class B
misdemeanor, except that the offense is:
(1) a Class A misdemeanor if the actor has previously
been convicted one or two times of an offense under Subsection (a);
or
(2) a state jail felony if the actor has previously
been convicted three or more times of an offense under Subsection
(a).
(c-1) An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class B
misdemeanor, except that the offense is:
(1) a Class A misdemeanor if the actor has previously
been convicted one or two times of an offense under Subsection (b);
(2) a state jail felony if the actor has previously
been convicted three or more times of an offense under Subsection
(b); or
(3) a felony of the second degree if the person
solicited is:
(A) younger than 18 years of age, regardless of
whether the actor knows the age of the person solicited at the time
of [the actor commits] the offense;
(B) represented to the actor as being younger
than 18 years of age; or
(C) believed by the actor to be younger than 18
years of age.
SECTION 9. Section 43.03(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
except that the offense is:
(1) a state jail felony if the actor has been
previously convicted of an offense under this section; or
(2) a felony of the second degree if the actor engages
in conduct described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2) involving a person
younger than 18 years of age engaging in prostitution, regardless
of whether the actor knows the age of the person at the time of [the
actor commits] the offense.
SECTION 10. Section 43.04(b), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if
the prostitution enterprise uses as a prostitute one or more
persons younger than 18 years of age, regardless of whether the
actor knows the age of the person at the time of [the actor commits]
the offense.
SECTION 11. Section 43.05(a), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
(1) causes another by force, threat, or fraud to
commit prostitution; or
(2) causes by any means a child younger than 18 years
to commit prostitution, regardless of whether the actor knows the
age of the child at the time of [the actor commits] the offense.
SECTION 12. Section 43.25, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (e) and adding Subsection (h) to read
as follows:
(c) An offense under Subsection (b) is a felony of the
second degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first
degree if the victim is younger than 14 years of age at the time the
offense is committed, regardless of whether the actor knows the age
of the victim at the time of the offense.
(e) An offense under Subsection (d) is a felony of the third
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if
the victim is younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense is
committed, regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the
victim at the time of the offense.
(h) Conduct under this section constitutes an offense
regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the victim at the
time of the offense.
SECTION 13. Section 43.251, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if
the victim [child] is younger than 14 years of age at the time the
offense is committed, regardless of whether the actor knows the age
of the victim at the time of the offense.
(d) Conduct under this section constitutes an offense
regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the victim at the
time of the offense.
SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1808 was passed by the House on May 4,
2017, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1808 on May 26, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1808 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor