Human Trafficking Bills Moving in NJ Legislature.
To end human trafficking in America, we must stop the demand. The #1 buyer of sex with a minor in the U.S. is a male who makes over $100,000 a year, is married, and has two children. Therefore, we must see that the root cause of sexual exploitation is the breakdown of the nuclear family. The impact of fatherlessness, pornography, and a hyper-sexualized culture is rapidly destroying the importance of family the way God intended.
Governor Murphy mandated school curricula changes to permit access to blatant pornography and signed legislation to protect sex apps used by adults to groom children. These actions made it easier for human traffickers to target children. Now the legislature is attempting to correct the problem they helped Murphy to make by enacting anti-human trafficking legislation. We support these efforts, but they are akin to placing a bandaid on a gushing wound. The legislature needs to address what they did to enable sexual predators and repeal it.
Here are the descriptions of the three bills.
A5303 Sponsor Ellen Park LD 37 Requires AG to review Statewide policy regarding investigation of human trafficking.
This bill requires the Attorney General to review the Statewide policy regarding the investigation of human trafficking. Currently, Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive No. 2012-2 sets forth standards and procedures for the investigation of human trafficking. Under the provisions of this bill, upon the review of the policy, the Attorney General is required to consider and address: 1) whether the use of audio or video recording by law enforcement officers conducting undercover investigations of human trafficking would protect the integrity of the investigation and ensure the proper treatment of victims of human trafficking; 2) the implementation of strict policies for dissemination of the audio or video recording, if used, in order to protect victims of human trafficking; 3) the involvement of county prosecutors at the beginning of and throughout human trafficking investigations conducted by county or municipal law enforcement officers in order to address legal challenges as they arise; and 4) any other areas, as determined by the Attorney General. This bill is in response to the Commission of Investigation report released on October 17, 2024, entitled “An Inquiry into Human Trafficking Activity in the Massage and Bodywork Therapy Industry in New Jersey.”
This bill was passed unanimously by Assembly Judiciary.
A5304 Sponsor Ellen Park LD 37 Upgrades penalties for certain prostitution crimes; creates crimes of leader of prostitution network and participant in prostitution network.
As reported, this bill upgrades certain crimes related to prostitution and creates the crimes of leader of a prostitution network and participant in a prostitution network
The bill upgrades the criminal penalties for the promotion of prostitution to a crime of the second degree and imposes a mandatory minimum term of one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed, or five years, whichever is greater, during which time the defendant would not be eligible for parole. Under current law, all crimes under the umbrella of promotion of prostitution are crimes of the third degree, except the crimes of soliciting a person to patronize a prostitute and procuring a prostitute for a patron, which are crimes of the fourth degree.
The bill also upgrades the criminal penalties for compelling another to engage in or promote prostitution and promoting prostitution of one’s spouse from crimes of the third degree to crimes of the second degree, and imposes a mandatory minimum term of one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed, or five years, whichever is greater, during which time the defendant would not be eligible for parole.
The bill creates two new crimes: (1) leader of a prostitution network, a crime of the second degree; and (2) participant in a prostitution network, a crime of the third degree. The bill provides that it is an affirmative defense to the crime of participant in a prostitution network that the defendant was a victim of human trafficking during the commission of the crime.
A disorderly persons offense is ordinarily punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 6 months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. A crime of the fourth degree is ordinarily punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. A crime of the third degree is ordinarily punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. A crime of the second degree is ordinarily punishable by a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years, a fine of up to $150,000, or both.
Under the bill, crimes related to prostitution, with the exception of engaging in prostitution as a prostitute, would be ineligible for admission into the Pretrial Intervention Program.
This bill is in response to the State Commission of Investigation report released on October 17, 2024, entitled “An Inquiry into Human Trafficking Activity in the Massage and Bodywork Therapy Industry in New Jersey.”
This bill has passed unanimously through Assembly Judiciary & Assembly Appropriations.
FISCAL IMPACT of 5304:
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill will result in indeterminate annual State expenditure and revenue increases. The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the fiscal impact, as it is not possible to estimate the number of crimes likely to be committed under the provisions of this bill.
The bill upgrades certain crimes, establishes new crimes, imposes mandatory minimum term of incarceration, and upgrades certain criminal penalties for prostitution-related crimes. The following State agencies would incur caseload and expenditure increases: a) the Department of Law and Public Safety for prosecuting additional crimes; b) the Judiciary for adjudicating additional offenders and monitoring additional probationers; c) the Office of the Public Defender for representing additional low-income criminal defendants; d) the Department of Corrections for housing convicted offenders; and e) the State Parole Board for supervising additional parolees. The State may receive indeterminate revenues from enhanced and regular fines imposed, however the State’s ability to collect fines has historically been limited.
Local entities such as counties and municipalities may incur indeterminate expenditure increase for disorderly persons offenses as enumerated under the bill. These offenses are adjudicated in municipal courts and repeat offenders are sentenced in county jails. Municipalities may also receive indeterminate revenues from fines and court filing fees.
A1185 Sponsor Carol A Murphy LD 7 Upgrades offense of prostitution as patron; directs fines collected to "Human Trafficking Survivor's Assistance Fund."
As reported, this bill provides for enhanced penalties for the crime of engaging in prostitution as a patron, commonly referred to as “johns.” Under current law, a person commits this offense if the actor engages in prostitution as a patron, or one who purchases sexual activity with another person in exchange for something of economic value, or the offer or acceptance of an offer to engage in sexual activity in exchange for something of economic value.
Currently, a violation of this provision is a disorderly person's offense for a first offense, punishable by up to six months imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. A second or third violation is a crime of the fourth degree, punishable by up to 18 months imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. For a fourth violation, it is a crime of the third degree, punishable by three to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. In addition to any other disposition for the offense, N.J.S.A.2C:34-1.2 assesses additional penalties upon persons convicted of engaging in prostitution as a patron, which includes an assessment of $500 and participation in a prostitution offender program.
This bill increases prostitution by a patron to a crime of the fourth degree, except that a fourth violation remains a crime of the third degree. In addition, the bill provides that any fine collected will be forwarded to the Department of the Treasury to be deposited in the “Human Trafficking Survivor’s Assistance Fund” (the HTSAF) established by N.J.S.A.52:17B-238. All monies deposited in the HTSAF are required to be used to provide services to victims of human trafficking, to promote awareness of human trafficking, and to develop, operate, maintain, and distribute training courses, educational materials, and training programs.
This bill has passed unanimously through Assembly Judiciary & Assembly Appropriations.
FISCAL IMPACT of A1185
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that this bill will result in indeterminate annual increases in State expenditures and revenues. The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the fiscal impact, as it is not possible to estimate the number of crimes likely to be committed under the provisions of this bill. The bill upgrades certain prostitution-related crimes from a disorderly persons offense to a crime of the fourth degree and provides for enhanced penalties for these crimes. The State may receive indeterminate revenues from the enhanced fines.
As for local entities, the OLS notes that annual expenditures and revenues are likely to decrease since first-time offenders will now be adjudicated in State court rather than municipal court and any defendants sentenced to incarceration will be sent to State prison rather than county jail.