§ 15:243 — Buyer Beware Program; post-conviction program for offenders; pre-trial diversion

§243. Buyer Beware Program; post-conviction program for offenders; pre-trial diversion
program for defendants; individuals engaged in the purchase of sexual activity and
solicitation of prostitutes
A.(1) The district attorney for each judicial district, alone or in conjunction with the
district attorney of an adjacent judicial district, may create and administer a program for
defendants charged, or offenders convicted, with an offense in which the defendant engaged
in the purchase of sexual activity, including those charged or convicted pursuant to R.S.
14:82.2 or 83. The program shall educate the defendants or offenders about the harms,
exploitation, and negative effects of prostitution. The district attorney, at his discretion, may
choose to be the operator of the program using his own office personnel or may choose a
vendor as the operator of the program.
(2) The program may be offered, at the discretion of the district attorney, to an
offender as part of a pre-trial diversion program unless the offense involves the purchase of
sexual activity from a minor.
B. At the discretion of the district attorney, after any costs associated with the
administration of the program are paid, a portion of all monies collected pursuant to the
provisions of this Section may be distributed to entities within their judicial district, or within
the judicial districts participating in the program, that provide rehabilitative services and
treatment to victims of offenses involving human trafficking and trafficking of children for
sexual purposes.
C. If the district attorney fails to develop a program, alone or in conjunction with the
district attorney of an adjacent judicial district, the court shall order that the offender, who
is sentenced pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 14:82.2 or 83, attend a certain number of
meetings for sexual addiction recovery with a local recovery group.
D. If the district attorney fails to develop a program, alone or in conjunction with the
district attorney of an adjacent judicial district and there is no local recovery group for sexual
addiction within the judicial district or within a fifty-mile radius of the offender's home, the
court shall order the offender, who is sentenced pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 14:82.2
or 83, to complete an online course which educates the offenders about the harms,
exploitation, and negative effects of prostitution.
E. The program provided for in this Section shall be known as the "Buyer Beware
Program".

Legislative History

Acts 2014, No. 564, §2; Acts 2018, No. 663, §2.