KEY LEGISLATION ON TRAFFICKING MOVES THROUGH THE FLORIDA HOUSE AND SENATE
Three important pieces of legislation have been introduced in the Florida Senate and/or House aimed at reducing sex trafficking in our state, as well as help the under-age victims when rescued. To access more information and the complete text of these bills click on the HB or SB numbers referenced below. For updates and talking points click here.
Two Florida Legislators, Representative Erik Fresen and Senator Anitere Flores, have introduced HB 99 and SB 202: Sexual Exploitation respectively for consideration. Commonly referred to as the Florida Safe Harbor Act, both bills provide for presumption that placement of child alleged to have been sexually exploited in short-term safe house is necessary; provide requirements for findings in shelter hearing relating to placement of allegedly sexually exploited child in safe house; requires assessment of certain children; provides for use of such assessments; provides requirements for safe houses receiving such children; require annual report on safe-house placements; provide for training for law enforcement officials likely to encounter sexually exploited children; provide for increased civil penalty for soliciting another to commit prostitution or related acts & disposition of proceeds; allow victim compensation for sexually exploited children; and provide presumption against filing delinquency petition for certain prostitution-related offenses in certain circumstances.
Florida Senator Lizbeth has introduced SB 1816: Protection of Vulnerable Persons. This bill deletes the definition of the term “other person responsible for a child’s welfare”; requiring specified educational institutions and their law enforcement agencies to report known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect in certain circumstances; revising the definition of the terms “forced labor or services” and “human trafficking”; prohibiting knowingly or in reckless disregard of the facts engaging in certain acts relating to human trafficking; providing additional duties for the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission concerning instruction in human trafficking; requiring the Department of Children and Family Services to develop guidelines for serving children who have been the victims of human trafficking, etc.
Senator Anitere Flores has also introduced SB 1880: Human Trafficking. This bill provides additional jurisdiction for the Office of Statewide Persecution relating to human trafficking; increasing the criminal penalty for a person who knowingly engages in human trafficking from a felony of the second degree to a felony of the first degree; increasing the criminal penalty for human smuggling from a misdemeanor of the first degree to a felony of the third degree; providing additional authorization for the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications, etc.