South Carolina Code 16-3-2020. Trafficking in persons; penalties; minor victims; defenses
(1) recruits, entices, solicits, isolates, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains, or so attempts, a victim, knowing that the victim will be subjected to, or for the purposes of, sex trafficking, forced labor or services, involuntary servitude or debt bondage through any means or who benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act described in this subsection, is guilty of trafficking in persons;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 16-3-2020
- Business: means a corporation, partnership, proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, organization, or self-employed individual. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Debt bondage: means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his personal services or those of a person under his control as a security for debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined or if the principal amount of the debt does not reasonably reflect the value of the items or services for which the debt was incurred. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Forced labor: means any type of labor or services performed or provided by a person rendered through another person's coercion of the person providing the labor or services. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
- Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
- Involuntary servitude: means a condition of servitude induced through coercion. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
- Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, charitable organization, or another legal entity. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Services: means an act committed at the behest of, under the supervision of, or for the benefit of another person. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
- Sex trafficking: means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for one of the following when it is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or the person performing the act is under the age of eighteen years and anything of value is given, promised to, or received, directly or indirectly, by any person:
(a) criminal sexual conduct pursuant to § 16-3-651;
(b) criminal sexual conduct in the first degree pursuant to § 16-3-652;
(c) criminal sexual conduct in the second degree pursuant to § 16-3-653;
(d) criminal sexual conduct in the third degree pursuant to § 16-3-654;
(e) criminal sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to § 16-3-655;
(f) engaging a child for sexual performance pursuant to § 16-3-810;
(g) producing, directing, or promoting sexual performance by a child pursuant to § 16-3-820;
(h) sexual battery pursuant to § 16-3-651;
(i) sexual conduct pursuant to § 16-3-800; or
(j) sexual performance pursuant to § 16-3-800. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010 - Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- victim: means a person who has been subjected to the crime of trafficking in persons. See South Carolina Code 16-3-2010
(2) aids, abets, or conspires with another person to violate the criminal provisions of this section; or
(3) knowingly gives, agrees to give, or offers to give anything of value so that any person may engage in commercial sexual activity with another person when he knows that the other person is a victim of trafficking in persons.
(B) A person convicted of a violation of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction:
(1) for a first offense, must be imprisoned not more than fifteen years;
(2) for a second offense, must be imprisoned not more than thirty years;
(3) for a third or subsequent offense, must be imprisoned not more than forty-five years.
(C) If the victim of an offense contained in this section is under the age of eighteen, the person convicted under this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than thirty years. For a second or subsequent offense, if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person convicted under this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than forty-five years.
(D) A business owner who uses his business in a way that participates in a violation of this article, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than ten years in addition to the penalties provided in this section for each violation.
(E) A plea of guilty or the legal equivalent entered pursuant to a provision of this article by an offender entitles the victim of trafficking in persons to all benefits, rights, and compensation granted pursuant to § 16-3-1110.
(F) In a prosecution of a person who is a victim of trafficking in persons, it is an affirmative defense that he was under duress or coerced into committing the offenses for which he is subject to prosecution, if the offenses were committed as a direct result of, or incidental or related to, trafficking. A victim of trafficking in persons convicted of a violation of this article or prostitution may motion the court to vacate the conviction and expunge the record of the conviction. The court may grant the motion on a finding that the person’s participation in the offense was a direct result of being a victim.
(G) If the victim was a minor at the time of the offense, the victim of trafficking in persons may not be prosecuted in court pursuant to this article or a prostitution offense, if it is determined after investigation that the victim committed the offense as a direct result of, or incidental or related to, trafficking.
(H) The human trafficking specialized service providers must be certified by the Attorney General through criteria established by the Human Trafficking Task Force. The Attorney General, through the task force, must also establish necessary criteria for Human Trafficking Acute Crisis Care and Resource Centers to be established in the communities of South Carolina. Once the service providers are certified and the assessment centers are open, the information must be disseminated to the family court bench and bar as well as law enforcement to be utilized in carrying out the mandates of this statute. The court must determine the most appropriate way to provide specialized services to the juveniles to address the concerns relating to human trafficking.
(I) Evidence of the following facts or conditions do not constitute a defense in a prosecution for a violation of this article, nor does the evidence preclude a finding of a violation:
(1) the victim’s sexual history or history of commercial sexual activity, the specific instances of the victim’s sexual conduct, opinion evidence of the victim’s sexual conduct, and reputation evidence of the victim’s sexual conduct;
(2) the victim’s connection by blood or marriage to a defendant in the case or to anyone involved in the victim’s trafficking;
(3) the implied or express consent of a victim to acts which violate the provisions of this section do not constitute a defense to violations of this section;
(4) age of consent to sex, legal age of marriage, or other discretionary age; and
(5) mistake as to the victim’s age, even if the mistake is reasonable.
(J) A person who violates the provisions of this section may be prosecuted by the State Grand Jury, pursuant to § 14-7-1600, when a victim is trafficked in more than one county or a trafficker commits the offense of trafficking in persons in more than one county.