BILL NUMBER: AB 1837INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Donnelly FEBRUARY 22, 2012 An act to amend Section 236.1 of the Penal Code, relating to human trafficking. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1837, as introduced, Donnelly. Human trafficking. Under existing law, any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a felony violation of specified sex crimes, extortion, or to obtain forced labor or services, is guilty of human trafficking. A violation of those provisions is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 4, or 5 years, except that if the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 4, 6, or 8 years. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 236.1 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 236.1. (a) Any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another person with the intent to effect or maintain a felony violation of Section 266, 266h, 266i, 267, 311.4, or 518, or to obtain forced labor or services, is guilty of human trafficking. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a violation of this section is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for three, four, or five years. (c) A violation of this section where the victim of the trafficking was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for four, six, or eight years. (d) (1) For purposes of this section, unlawful deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another includes substantial and sustained restriction of another's liberty accomplished through fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, under circumstances where the person receiving or apprehending the threat reasonably believes that it is likely that the person making the threat would carry it out. (2) Duress includes knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or immigration document of the victim. (e) For purposes of this section, "forced labor or services" means labor or services that are performed or provided by a person and are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, or coercion, or equivalent conduct that would reasonably overbear the will of the person. (f) The Legislature finds that the definition of human trafficking in this section is equivalent to the federal definition of a severe form of trafficking found in Section 7102(8) of Title 22 of the United States Code. (g) (1) In addition to the penalty specified in subdivision (c), any person who commits human trafficking involving a commercial sex act where the victim of the human trafficking was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). (2) As used in this subdivision, "commercial sex act" means any sexual conduct on account of which anything of value is given or received by any person. (h) Every fine imposed and collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund to be available for appropriation to fund services for victims of human trafficking. At least 50 percent of the fines collected and deposited pursuant to this section shall be granted to community-based organizations that serve victims of human trafficking.