California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1791

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

February 18, 2014

An act to amend Sections 236.1 and 647 of the Penal Code, relating to human trafficking.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1791, as introduced, Maienschein. Human trafficking.

Existing law makes it a crime to engage in specified forms of disorderly conduct, including soliciting or agreeing to engage in or engaging in any act of prostitution. Those crimes are punishable as misdemeanors.

Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires persons who are convicted of specified sex offenses to register with local authorities while residing, located, attending school, or working in this state. The willful failure to register, as required, is a misdemeanor or a felony, depending upon the underlying offense. These provisions do not apply to defendants who are convicted of the provisions of disorderly conduct relating to prostitution.

Existing law provides that a person who causes, induces, or persuades, or attempts to cause, induce, or persuade, a person who is a minor at the time of commission of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with the intent to effect or maintain a violation of specified crimes, including specified sex offenses and extortion, is guilty of human trafficking and subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and a fine of not more than $500,000, or, if the crime involved force, fear, fraud, or specified coercive acts, 15 years to life and a fine of not more than $500,000. A person who is convicted of one of these offenses is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act.

This bill would expand the scope of that crime, and the Sex Offender Registration Act, to apply to a person who recruits, harbors, transports, provides, sells, purchases, or obtains, or attempts to recruit, harbor, transport, provide, sell, purchase, or obtain, a person who is a minor at the time of commission of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with the intent to effect or maintain a violation of one of the list of offenses specified under existing law. In addition, the bill would expand that list of offenses to include additional crimes relating to procuring prostitution, including the forms of disorderly conduct relating to prostitution that are currently punishable as misdemeanor offenses, thereby making those offenses punishable as felonies. Because the bill would impose additional costs on local law enforcement entities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 236.1 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

236.1.  

(a) Any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or services,
is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and a fine of
not more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

(b) Any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of
another with the intent to effect or maintain a violation of Section
266, 266h, 266i, 266j, 267, 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.5,
311.6, or 518 is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished
by imprisonment in the state prison for 8, 14, or 20 years and a
fine of not more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

(c) Any person who begin insert recruits, harbors, transports, provides,
sells, purchases, obtains, end insert causes, induces, or persuades, or attempts
to begin insert recruit, harbor, transport, provide, sell, purchase, obtain, end insert cause,
induce, or persuade, a person who is a minor at the time of
commission of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with
the intent to effect or maintain a violation of Section 266, begin insert 266e, end insert
266h, 266i, 266j, 267, 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.5, 311.6, begin delete or end delete
518 begin insert , or subdivision (b) of Section 647, end insert is guilty of human
trafficking. A violation of this subdivision is punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison as follows:

(1) Five, 8, or 12 years and a fine of not more than five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000).

(2) Fifteen years to life and a fine of not more than five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000) when the offense involves force, fear,
fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of
unlawful injury to the victim or to another person.

(d) In determining whether a minor was begin insert recruited, harbored,
transported, provided, sold, purchased, obtained, end insert caused, induced,
or persuaded to engage in a commercial sex act, the totality of the
circumstances, including the age of the victim, his or her
relationship to the trafficker or agents of the trafficker, and any
handicap or disability of the victim, shall be considered.

(e) Consent by a victim of human trafficking who is a minor at
the time of the commission of the offense is not a defense to a
criminal prosecution under this section.

(f) Mistake of fact as to the age of a victim of human trafficking
who is a minor at the time of the commission of the offense is not
a defense to a criminal prosecution under this section.

(g) The Legislature finds that the definition of human trafficking
in this section is equivalent to the federal definition of a severe
form of trafficking found in Section begin delete 7102(8) end delete begin insert 7102(9) end insert of Title 22
of the United States Code.

(h) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Coercion” includes any scheme, plan, or pattern intended
to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would
result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;
the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process; debt bondage;
or providing and facilitating the possession of any controlled
substance to a person with the intent to impair the person’s
judgment.

(2) “Commercial sex act” means sexual conduct on account of
which anything of value is given or received by any person.

(3) “Deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another”
includes substantial and sustained restriction of another’s liberty
accomplished through force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence,
duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to
another person, under circumstances where the person receiving
or apprehending the threat reasonably believes that it is likely that
the person making the threat would carry it out.

(4) “Duress” includes a direct or implied threat of force,
violence, danger, hardship, or retribution sufficient to cause a
reasonable person to acquiesce in or perform an act which he or
she would otherwise not have submitted to or performed; a direct
or implied threat to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess
any actual or purported passport or immigration document of the
victim; or knowingly destroying, concealing, removing,
confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or
immigration document of the victim.

(5) “Forced labor or services” means labor or services that are
performed or provided by a person and are obtained or maintained
through force, fraud, duress, or coercion, or equivalent conduct
that would reasonably overbear the will of the person.

(6) “Great bodily injury” means a significant or substantial
physical injury.

(7) “Minor” means a person less than 18 years of age.

(8) “Serious harm” includes any harm, whether physical or
nonphysical, including psychological, financial, or reputational
harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding
circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same
background and in the same circumstances to perform or to
continue performing labor, services, or commercial sexual acts in
order to avoid incurring that harm.

(i) The total circumstances, including the age of the victim, the
relationship between the victim and the trafficker or agents of the
trafficker, and any handicap or disability of the victim, shall be
factors to consider in determining the presence of “deprivation or
violation of the personal liberty of another,” “duress,” and
“coercion” as described in this section.

SEC. 2.  

Section 647 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

647.  

Except as provided in begin insert Section 236.1 and in end insert subdivision
(l), every person who commits any of the following acts is guilty
of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor:

(a) Who solicits anyone to engage in or who engages in lewd
or dissolute conduct in any public place or in any place open to
the public or exposed to public view.

(b) 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 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.

(c) Who accosts other persons in any public place or in any
place open to the public for the purpose of begging or soliciting
alms.

(d) Who loiters in or about any toilet open to the public for the
purpose of engaging in or soliciting any lewd or lascivious or any
unlawful act.

(e) Who lodges in any building, structure, vehicle, or place,
whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or
person entitled to the possession or in control of it.

(f) Who is found in any public place under the influence of
intoxicating liquor, any drug, controlled substance, toluene, or any
combination of any intoxicating liquor, drug, controlled substance,
or toluene, in a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care
for his or her own safety or the safety of others, or by reason of
his or her being under the influence of intoxicating liquor, any
drug, controlled substance, toluene, or any combination of any
intoxicating liquor, drug, or toluene, interferes with or obstructs
or prevents the free use of any street, sidewalk, or other public
way.

(g) When a person has violated subdivision (f), a peace officer,
if he or she is reasonably able to do so, shall place the person, or
cause him or her to be placed, in civil protective custody. The
person shall be taken to a facility, designated pursuant to Section
5170 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, for the 72-hour
treatment and evaluation of inebriates. A peace officer may place
a person in civil protective custody with that kind and degree of
force which would be lawful were he or she effecting an arrest for
a misdemeanor without a warrant. A person who has been placed
in civil protective custody shall not thereafter be subject to any
criminal prosecution or juvenile court proceeding based on the
facts giving rise to this placement. This subdivision shall not apply
to the following persons:

(1) Any person who is under the influence of any drug, or under
the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and any drug.

(2) Any person who a peace officer has probable cause to believe
has committed any felony, or who has committed any misdemeanor
in addition to subdivision (f).

(3) Any person who a peace officer in good faith believes will
attempt escape or will be unreasonably difficult for medical
personnel to control.

(h) Who loiters, prowls, or wanders upon the private property
of another, at any time, without visible or lawful business with the
owner or occupant. As used in this subdivision, “loiter” means to
delay or linger without a lawful purpose for being on the property
and for the purpose of committing a crime as opportunity may be
discovered.

(i) Who, while loitering, prowling, or wandering upon the private
property of another, at any time, peeks in the door or window of
any inhabited building or structure, without visible or lawful
business with the owner or occupant.

(j) (1) Any person who looks through a hole or opening, into,
or otherwise views, by means of any instrumentality, including,
but not limited to, a periscope, telescope, binoculars, camera,
motion picture camera, camcorder, or mobile phone, the interior
of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing
room, or tanning booth, or the interior of any other area in which
the occupant has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the
intent to invade the privacy of a person or persons inside. This
subdivision shall not apply to those areas of a private business
used to count currency or other negotiable instruments.

(2) Any person who uses a concealed camcorder, motion picture
camera, or photographic camera of any type, to secretly videotape,
film, photograph, or record by electronic means, another,
identifiable person under or through the clothing being worn by
that other person, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the
undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or
knowledge of that other person, with the intent to arouse, appeal
to, or gratify the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person and
invade the privacy of that other person, under circumstances in
which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

(3) (A) Any person who uses a concealed camcorder, motion
picture camera, or photographic camera of any type, to secretly
videotape, film, photograph, or record by electronic means, another,
identifiable person who may be in a state of full or partial undress,
for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn
by, that other person, without the consent or knowledge of that
other person, in the interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing
room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth, or the interior
of any other area in which that other person has a reasonable
expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade the privacy of that
other person.

(B) Neither of the following is a defense to the crime specified
in this paragraph:

(i) The defendant was a cohabitant, landlord, tenant, cotenant,
employer, employee, or business partner or associate of the victim,
or an agent of any of these.

(ii) The victim was not in a state of full or partial undress.

(4) (A) Any person who photographs or records by any means
the image of the intimate body part or parts of another identifiable
person, under circumstances where the parties agree or understand
that the image shall remain private, and the person subsequently
distributes the image taken, with the intent to cause serious
emotional distress, and the depicted person suffers serious
emotional distress.

(B) As used in this paragraph, intimate body part means any
portion of the genitals, and in the case of a female, also includes
any portion of the breasts below the top of the areola, that is either
uncovered or visible through less than fully opaque clothing.

(C) Nothing in this subdivision precludes punishment under
any section of law providing for greater punishment.

(k) In any accusatory pleading charging a violation of
subdivision (b), if the defendant has been once previously convicted
of a violation of that subdivision, the previous conviction shall be
charged in the accusatory pleading. If the previous conviction is
found to be true by the jury, upon a jury trial, or by the court, upon
a court trial, or is admitted by the defendant, the defendant shall
be imprisoned in a county jail for a period of not less than 45 days
and shall not be eligible for release upon completion of sentence,
on probation, on parole, on work furlough or work release, or on
any other basis until he or she has served a period of not less than
45 days in a county jail. In all cases in which probation is granted,
the court shall require as a condition thereof that the person be
confined in a county jail for at least 45 days. In no event does the
court have the power to absolve a person who violates this
subdivision from the obligation of spending at least 45 days in
confinement in a county jail.

In any accusatory pleading charging a violation of subdivision
(b), if the defendant has been previously convicted two or more
times of a violation of that subdivision, each of these previous
convictions shall be charged in the accusatory pleading. If two or
more of these previous convictions are found to be true by the jury,
upon a jury trial, or by the court, upon a court trial, or are admitted
by the defendant, the defendant shall be imprisoned in a county
jail for a period of not less than 90 days and shall not be eligible
for release upon completion of sentence, on probation, on parole,
on work furlough or work release, or on any other basis until he
or she has served a period of not less than 90 days in a county jail.
In all cases in which probation is granted, the court shall require
as a condition thereof that the person be confined in a county jail
for at least 90 days. In no event does the court have the power to
absolve a person who violates this subdivision from the obligation
of spending at least 90 days in confinement in a county jail.

In addition to any punishment prescribed by this section, a court
may suspend, for not more than 30 days, the privilege of the person
to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to Section 13201.5 of the
Vehicle Code for any violation of subdivision (b) that was
committed within 1,000 feet of a private residence and with the
use of a vehicle. In lieu of the suspension, the court may order a
person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle restricted, for not
more than six months, to necessary travel to and from the person’s
place of employment or education. If driving a motor vehicle is
necessary to perform the duties of the person’s employment, the
court may also allow the person to drive in that person’s scope of
employment.

(l) (1) A second or subsequent violation of subdivision (j) is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or
by both that fine and imprisonment.

(2) If the victim of a violation of subdivision (j) was a minor at
the time of the offense, the violation is punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding
two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both that fine and
imprisonment.

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.