§ 45-5-705 — Patronizing Victim Of Sex Trafficking

45-5-705 . Patronizing victim of sex trafficking. (1) A person commits the offense of patronizing a victim of sex trafficking if the person purposely or knowingly gives, agrees to give, or offers to give anything of value so that a person may engage in commercial sexual activity that involves sexual contact that is direct and not through clothing with another person who the person knows or reasonably should have known is a victim of sex trafficking.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3), a person convicted of the offense of patronizing a victim of sex trafficking shall:
(a) for the first offense, be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not more than 15 years, fined in the amount of $400,000, or both; or
(b) for a second or subsequent offense, be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not less than 2 years or more than 15 years, fined in the amount of $400,000, or both.
(3) (a) If the individual patronized was a child and the patron was 18 years of age or older, a person convicted of the offense of patronizing a victim of sex trafficking, whether or not the person believed the child was an adult:
(i) shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of 100 years. The court may not suspend execution or defer imposition of the first 25 years of a sentence of imprisonment imposed under this subsection (3)(a)(i) except as provided in 46-18-222 , and during the first 25 years of imprisonment the offender is not eligible for parole.
(ii) shall be fined in the amount of $400,000; and
(iii) must be ordered to enroll in and successfully complete the educational phase and the cognitive and behavioral phase of a sexual offender treatment program provided or approved by the department of corrections.
(b) If the offender is released after the mandatory minimum period of imprisonment, the offender is subject to supervision by the department of corrections for the remainder of the offender's life and shall participate in the program for continuous, satellite-based monitoring provided for in 46-23-1010 .
(4) It is not a defense in a prosecution under this section:
(a) that a child consented to engage in commercial sexual activity; or
(b) that the defendant believed that the child was an adult. Absolute liability, as provided in 45-2-104 , is imposed.

Legislative History

En. Sec. 5, Ch. 285, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 308, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 666, L. 2023.