By: Jetton, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Bettencourt) H.B. No. 279
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 17, 2023;
April 18, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 3, 2023, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 3, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of
trafficking of persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 20A.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subdivision (1-b) to read as follows:
(1-b) "Disabled individual" has the meaning assigned by
Section 22.021(b).
SECTION 2. Sections 20A.02(a) and (b), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:
(1) traffics another person with the intent that the
trafficked person engage in forced labor or services;
(2) receives a benefit from participating in a venture
that involves an activity described by Subdivision (1), including
by receiving labor or services the person knows are forced labor or
services;
(3) traffics another person and, through force, fraud,
or coercion, causes the trafficked person to engage in conduct
prohibited by:
(A) Section 43.02 (Prostitution);
(B) Section 43.03 (Promotion of Prostitution);
(B-1) Section 43.031 (Online Promotion of
Prostitution);
(C) Section 43.04 (Aggravated Promotion of
Prostitution);
(C-1) Section 43.041 (Aggravated Online
Promotion of Prostitution); or
(D) Section 43.05 (Compelling Prostitution);
(4) receives a benefit from participating in a venture
that involves an activity described by Subdivision (3) or engages
in sexual conduct with a person trafficked in the manner described
in Subdivision (3);
(5) traffics a child with the intent that the
trafficked child engage in forced labor or services;
(6) receives a benefit from participating in a venture
that involves an activity described by Subdivision (5), including
by receiving labor or services the person knows are forced labor or
services;
(7) traffics a child or disabled individual and by any
means causes the trafficked child or disabled individual to engage
in, or become the victim of, conduct prohibited by:
(A) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of
Young Child or Disabled Individual);
(B) Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child);
(C) Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault);
(D) Section 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault);
(E) Section 43.02 (Prostitution);
(E-1) Section 43.021 (Solicitation of
Prostitution);
(F) Section 43.03 (Promotion of Prostitution);
(F-1) Section 43.031 (Online Promotion of
Prostitution);
(G) Section 43.04 (Aggravated Promotion of
Prostitution);
(G-1) Section 43.041 (Aggravated Online
Promotion of Prostitution);
(H) Section 43.05 (Compelling Prostitution);
(I) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a
Child);
(J) Section 43.251 (Employment Harmful to
Children); or
(K) Section 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of
Child Pornography); or
(8) receives a benefit from participating in a venture
that involves an activity described by Subdivision (7) or engages
in sexual conduct with a child or disabled individual trafficked in
the manner described in Subdivision (7).
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection and
Subsection (b-1), an offense under this section is a felony of the
second degree. An offense under this section is a felony of the
first degree if:
(1) the applicable conduct constitutes an offense
under Subsection (a)(5), (6), (7), or (8), regardless of whether
the actor knows the age of the child or whether the actor knows the
victim is disabled at the time of the offense;
(2) the commission of the offense results in the death
of the person who is trafficked;
(3) the commission of the offense results in the death
of an unborn child of the person who is trafficked; or
(4) the actor recruited, enticed, or obtained the
victim of the offense from a shelter or facility operating as a
residential treatment center that serves runaway youth, foster
children, the homeless, or persons subjected to human trafficking,
domestic violence, or sexual assault.
SECTION 3. Section 16.0045(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person must bring suit for personal injury not later
than 30 years after the day the cause of action accrues if the
injury arises as a result of conduct that violates:
(1) Section 22.011(a)(2), Penal Code (sexual assault
of a child);
(2) Section 22.021(a)(1)(B), Penal Code (aggravated
sexual assault of a child);
(3) Section 21.02, Penal Code (continuous sexual abuse
of young child or disabled individual);
(4) Section 20A.02(a)(7)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (H) or
Section 20A.02(a)(8), Penal Code, involving an activity described
by Section 20A.02(a)(7)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (H) or sexual conduct
with a child or disabled individual trafficked in the manner
described by Section 20A.02(a)(7), Penal Code (certain sexual
trafficking [of a child]);
(5) Section 43.05(a)(2), Penal Code (compelling
prostitution by a child); or
(6) Section 21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a
child).
SECTION 4. Section 2(a), Article 38.37, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Subsection (b) applies only to the trial of a defendant
for:
(1) an offense under any of the following provisions
of the Penal Code:
(A) Section 20A.02, if punishable as a felony of
the first degree under Section 20A.02(b)(1) (Sex Trafficking of a
Child or Disabled Individual);
(B) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of
Young Child or Disabled Individual);
(C) Section 21.11 (Indecency With a Child);
(D) Section 22.011(a)(2) (Sexual Assault of a
Child);
(E) Sections 22.021(a)(1)(B) and (2) (Aggravated
Sexual Assault of a Child);
(F) Section 33.021 (Online Solicitation of a
Minor);
(G) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a
Child); or
(H) Section 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of
Child Pornography), Penal Code; or
(2) an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense
described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 5. Section 772.0062(a)(1), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Child sex trafficking" means conduct
constituting an offense [prohibited] under Section 20A.02(a)(7) or
(8), Penal Code, that is committed against a child.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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