Inside Florida’s Human Trafficking Legislation
The Florida Free Press
ORLANDO — The following is an in-depth breakdown of Florida’s legal treatment of human trafficking, including specific punishments and fines for violators. This piece is written by local board-certified attorney, Christopher Morrison, and provides valuable information regarding recent measures Florida has taken to protect victims and deter traffickers.
Human trafficking is a felony in the State of Florida. Florida law broadly defines human trafficking as “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person.” There are a number of human trafficking offenses, based largely on the purpose of the trafficking and whether the victim is a minor. These offenses are as set forth below.
Florida law provides that any person who knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the facts, engages in human trafficking, attempts to engage in human trafficking, or benefits financially by receiving anything of value from participating in a venture that has subjected a person to human trafficking:
- For labor or services of any child under the age of 18 commits a felony of the first degree.
- Using coercion for labor or services of an adult commits a felony of the first degree.
- Using coercion for commercial sexual activity of an adult commits a felony of the first degree.
- For labor or services of any child under the age of 18 who is an unauthorized alien commits a felony of the first degree.
- Using coercion for labor or services of an adult who is an unauthorized alien commits a felony of the first degree.
- Using coercion for commercial sexual activity of an adult who is an unauthorized alien commits a felony of the first degree.
- For labor or services who does so by the transfer or transport of any child under the age of 18 from outside this state to within the state commits a felony of the first degree.
- Using coercion for labor or services who does so by the transfer or transport of an adult from outside this state to within the state commits a felony of the first degree.
- Using coercion for commercial sexual activity who does so by the transfer or transport of an adult from outside this state to within the state commits a felony of the first degree.
- For commercial sexual activity who does so by the transfer or transport of any child under the age of 18 from outside this state to within the state commits a felony of the first degree, punishable by up to life imprisonment, or as a first degree felony.
- For commercial sexual activity in which any child under the age of 18, or in which any person who is mentally defective or mentally incapacitated is involved commits a life felony, punishable by life imprisonment (for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2014), a $15,000 fine, or both.
Unless otherwise specified, the offenses listed above are punishable by up to 30 years’ imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both. Each instance of trafficking an individual is a separately punishable offense.
In addition to the above, it is a life felony for any person having custody or control of a minor, including a parent or legal guardian, to sell or transfer, or offer to sell or transfer custody of that minor, with knowledge or in reckless disregard of the fact that the minor will be subject to human trafficking. This crime is punishable by life imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. It is also a second degree felony to permanently brand or direct to be branded a victim for purposes of committing or facilitating the foregoing criminal act. “Permanently branded” means a mark on the individual’s body that, if it can be removed or repaired at all, can only be removed or repaired by surgical means, laser treatment, or other medical procedure. This particular crime is punishable by up to 15 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Florida did not have criminal laws expressly addressing human trafficking until 2004. There were laws on the books that addressed criminal activities associated with certain aspects of human trafficking, such as procuring a minor for prostitution, or forcing or coercing another person into prostitution. The 2004 legislation established a relatively narrow human trafficking statute, Florida Statute 787.06, which provided that any person who knowingly engages in human trafficking with the intent that the trafficked person engage in forced labor or services commits a second-degree felony. Human trafficking was defined as “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing or obtaining another person for transport.”
The 2004 legislation also included laws that specifically criminalized unlawfully obtaining labor or services through certain coercive or manipulative means, the selling or buying of minors into sex trafficking or prostitution, and engaging in acts related to sex trafficking as to any other persons. The law regarding the sale of minors into sex trafficking or prostitution required “force, fraud, or coercion” be used against the minor in order for a violation to occur. The more general sex trafficking statute classified the trafficking of a minor under 14 as a higher level felony.
In 2006, the Florida legislature amended Florida Statute 787.06 to add legislative findings regarding human trafficking, and to expand certain aspects of the statute. One of the legislative findings was that “while many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or the sexual entertainment industry, trafficking also occurs in forms of labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude, restaurant work, janitorial work, sweatshop factory work, and migrant agricultural work,” thus expressly recognizing that human trafficking can occur for different purposes, and that victims may be found in a number of contexts. Another finding noted that various means are used to control trafficking victims, and added references to these as means of obtaining forced labor or services, such as using debt, confiscation or destruction of passports or other immigration documents, causing or threatening to cause financial harm to any person, or fraud or coercion.
In 2012, Florida amended its human trafficking laws to consolidate the statutes mentioned above into Florida Statute 787.06, and made significant changes moving it closer to its current form. The consolidation meant there would now be a single human trafficking law that applied both to labor and services and to commercial sexual activity. Among other significant changes, the penalties were increased overall and the penalties for trafficking minors were enhanced. Another noteworthy change was a definition for “coercion,” an element of several trafficking offenses, which included providing a controlled substance to a person for the purpose of exploitation. Also, the transport requirement was eliminated, as was the coercion element of trafficking minors for commercial sexual activity.
In 2014, another amendment eliminated the coercion requirement from all trafficking offenses against minors. At the same time, the legislature amended Florida’s prostitution statutes to add a statement of intent that adults who involve minors in any behavior prohibited by those laws be prosecuted under other laws, such as those against human trafficking, sexual battery, child abuse, and obscenity. The rationale for this statement was that prosecution under the prostitution statutes would be inappropriate in such cases since minors are unable to consent to the prohibited acts.
This story is part of an ongoing series investigating the extent and impact of human trafficking on the state of Florida.
