1. A person is guilty of sex trafficking if:
A. The person knowingly promotes prostitution. Violation of this paragraph is a Class D crime; or [PL 2013, c. 407, §3 (NEW).]
B. The person violates paragraph A and has 2 or more prior convictions in this State for any combination of the Maine offenses listed in this paragraph or for engaging in substantially similar conduct to that of the Maine offenses listed in this paragraph in another jurisdiction. The Maine offenses are any violation of this section or section 852, 853?B or 855 or attempts to commit any of these crimes. Section 9?A governs the use of prior convictions when determining a sentence. Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime. [PL 2023, c. 316, §6 (AMD).]

[PL 2023, c. 316, §6 (AMD).]

Attorney's Note

Under the Maine Revised Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class C crimeup to 5 yearsup to $5,000
Class D crimeup to 1 yearup to $2,000
For details, see Me. Rev. Stat. Title 17-A § 1604
criminal case

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Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 17-A Sec. 853

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Prostitution: means engaging in, or agreeing to engage in, or offering to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact, as those terms are defined in section 251, in return for a pecuniary benefit to be received by the person being prostituted or a 3rd person;
[PL 2023, c. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 17-A Sec. 851
2.

[PL 2013, c. 407, §3 (RP).]

3. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the person engaged in sex trafficking because the person was compelled to do so as described in section 852, subsection 2.

[PL 2017, c. 416, §3 (NEW).]

4. It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the act alleged to constitute sex trafficking consisted of the person publicly soliciting a patron to engage in prostitution only with the person.

[PL 2023, c. 316, §7 (NEW).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1975, c. 499, §1 (NEW). PL 2013, c. 407, §3 (AMD). PL 2015, c. 360, §1 (AMD). PL 2017, c. 416, §3 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 316, §§6, 7 (AMD).