BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 12
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 12 (Swanson)
As Amended May 9, 2011
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, | | |
| |Hagman, Hill, Mitchell, | | |
| |Skinner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Creates an additional fine of up to $25,000 ($92,603 with
penalty assessments) for any person convicted of procurement of a
minor, under the age of 18, for the purposes of engaging in
prostitution. Specifies that the fine shall be available to fund
programs and services for commercially sexually exploited minors in
the counties where the offenses are committed. Specifically,
this bill :
1)States that any person convicted of seeking to procure or
procuring the sexual services of a prostitute if the prostitute
is under 18 years of age, shall be ordered by the court, in
addition to any other penalty or fine imposed, to pay an
additional fine not to exceed $25,000.
2)Specifies that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the fine
shall be available to fund programs and services for commercially
sexually exploited minors in the counties where the offenses are
committed.
3)Finds and declares the following:
a) Sexual slavery of minors through human trafficking is one
of the most sophisticated forms of organized crime in the
country and is now globally recognized as a modern day form of
slavery;
b) Human trafficking and sexual exploitation involve the
recruitment, transportation, and sale of people, primarily
women and children, to work in the sex trade. California has
become a major hub of international and domestic interstate
human trafficking;
c) A United States Department of Justice study estimates that
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over 300,000 American children are at risk of being forced
into prostitution. Human trafficking and child sexual
exploitation are not phenomena exclusive to countries outside
the United States or to states other than California. It is a
universal crisis that is occurring in our own backyards and in
our city streets in broad daylight;
d) Children are not safe from trafficking and exploitation in
California. Some of the children trafficked are as young as
four years old, but many more are only 11 or 12 years of age;
e) Researchers agree that internationally the median age for
the entrance of girls into prostitution is 14 years of age.
In the United States, the ages vary from state to state, and
in California the average age is about 12 years old;
f) The business of the trafficking of children would not exist
without the demand for the services of those children by the
men and women who purchase those services on the streets.
California needs to increase the fines against persons who
engage children in these illicit activities;
g) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the
Abolition of Child Commerce, Exploitation, and Sexual Slavery
(ACCESS) Act of 2011 to recast the state's laws relating to
human trafficking and child sex slavery to treat the
trafficked children as victims, rather than prostitutes. It
is also the intent of the Legislature that the ACCESS Act of
2011 will ensure that persons funding the illicit activities
of human traffickers and paying for the services of child sex
slaves are treated as severely under the law as an adult
engaging in a sex act with a minor. The predator should be
dealt with the same, regardless of whether that person is
paying for the sexual services of the minor he or she is
abusing; and,
h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the ACCESS Act of
2011 further these purposes and also ensure that these
victimized children are given access to proper treatment and
the resources they need to be safe from the men and women who
exploit them commercially.
EXISTING LAW : Specifies that it is misdemeanor disorderly conduct
when any person who solicits or who agrees to engage in or who
engages in any act of prostitution. A person agrees to engage in
an act of prostitution when, with specific intent to so engage, he
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or she manifests an acceptance of an offer or solicitation to so
engage, regardless of whether the offer or solicitation was made by
a person who also possessed the specific intent to engage in
prostitution. No agreement to engage in an act of prostitution
shall constitute a violation of this subdivision unless some act,
in addition to the agreement, is done within this state in
furtherance of the commission of an act of prostitution by the
person agreeing to engage in that act. As used in this
subdivision, "prostitution" includes any lewd act between persons
for money or other consideration.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The average age of a child
entering the sex industry is 12 years old, with some of the most
horrific cases involving children as young as 4 years old.
Annually, over 300,000 minors are captive victims of traffickers
and the customers engaging in these illicit activities keep the
industry alive.
"The Abolition of Child Commerce, Exploitation, and Sexual Slavery
Act of 2011 (AB 12) raises to $25,000 the fine against a person
convicted of engaging in sex with a minor for money. Under current
law, the fines for such activities are less than those for a person
engaging in sex with a minor without the exchange of money.
"No amount of money could ever make up for the violence and mental
abuse that sexually exploited minors experience from the
traffickers who force them into the sex industry and the men who
pay for their sexual services. However, the increased fines which
would be assessed against 'Johns' in accordance with this bill,
would be dedicated to community agencies that provide education,
counseling, and shelter for sexually exploited minors."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0000545
AB 12
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