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A02528 Summary:

BILL NOA02528
 
SAME ASSAME AS S03171
 
SPONSORHevesi
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §230.34-a, add §130.97, Pen L
 
Establishes the crimes of sex trafficking of a vulnerable person and predatory sex trafficking when a person intentionally advances or profits from prostitution of a vulnerable person.
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A02528 Actions:

BILL NOA02528
 
01/26/2023referred to codes
01/03/2024referred to codes
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A02528 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2528
 
SPONSOR: Hevesi
  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. Section 230.34-a of the penal law, as added by chapter 189 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows: § 230.34-a Sex traf- ficking of a child or vulnerable person. § 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.1411 of 2021-2022; 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).
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A02528 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          2528
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 26, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Codes
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  penal  law, in relation to sex trafficking of a
          vulnerable person
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Section 230.34-a of the penal law, as added by chapter 189
     2  of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
     3  § 230.34-a Sex trafficking of a child or vulnerable person.
     4    1. A person is guilty of sex trafficking of a child when  he  or  she,
     5  being  twenty-one  years  old or more, intentionally advances or profits
     6  from prostitution of another person and such person is a child less than
     7  eighteen years old. Knowledge by the defendant of the age of such  child
     8  is  not  an  element of this offense and it is not a defense to a prose-
     9  cution therefor that the defendant did not know the age of the child  or
    10  believed such age to be eighteen or over.
    11    2.  A  person is guilty of sex trafficking of a vulnerable person when
    12  he or she intentionally advances or profits from prostitution of another
    13  person and such person is a vulnerable person, as such term  is  defined
    14  in this section.
    15    3. For purposes of this section:
    16    (a)  A  person  "advances  prostitution"  when, acting other than as a
    17  person in prostitution or as a patron thereof, and with intent to  cause
    18  prostitution,  he or she directly engages in conduct that facilitates an
    19  act or enterprise of prostitution.
    20    (b) A person "profits from prostitution" when, acting other than as  a
    21  person  in  prostitution  receiving compensation for personally rendered
    22  prostitution services, and with intent to facilitate prostitution, he or
    23  she accepts or receives money or other property pursuant to an agreement
    24  or understanding with any person whereby he or she participates  in  the
    25  proceeds of prostitution activity.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05001-01-3

        A. 2528                             2
 
     1    (c)  A  person  is  a "vulnerable person" when such person is mentally
     2  disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, as such  terms
     3  are defined in section 130.00 of this part.
     4    Sex trafficking of a child or vulnerable person is a class B felony.
     5    §  2.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 130.97 to read
     6  as follows:
     7  § 130.97 Predatory sex trafficking.
     8    A person is guilty of predatory sex trafficking when,  being  eighteen
     9  years  old  or more, he or she commits the crime of sex trafficking of a
    10  child or vulnerable person.
    11    Predatory sex trafficking is a class A-II felony.
    12    § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    13  have become a law.
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