H. B. 4003
(By Delegate Brown)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §61-2A-1, §61-2A-2,
§61-2A-3, §61-2A-4 and §61-2A-5, all relating to creation of
new criminal offenses for the trafficking of persons and
involuntary servitude; creating definitions; establishing
involuntary servitude offenses; establishing offenses
involving sexual servitude of a minor; establishing offenses
for trafficking of persons for forced labor or services; and
requiring restitution.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §61-2A-1, §61-2A-2,
§61-2A-3, §61-2A-4 and §61-2A-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS AND INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE.
§61-2A-1. Definitions.
In this article:
(1) "Blackmail" is to be given its ordinary meaning and
includes, but is not limited to, a threat to expose any secret
tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt or ridicule.
(2) "Commercial sexual activity" means any sex act on account
of which anything of value is given, promised to or received by any
person.
(3) "Financial harm" includes credit extortion as defined by
section one hundred twenty, article two, chapter forty-six-a of
this code, criminal violation of the usury laws as defined by
section six, article six, chapter forty-seven of this code, or
employment contracts that violate the Statute of Frauds as defined
by section one, article one, chapter fifty-five of this code.
(4) "Forced labor or services" means labor, as defined in
subdivision (5) of this section, or services, as defined in
subdivision (9) of this section, that are performed or provided by
another person and are obtained or maintained through an actor's:
(A) Causing or threatening to cause serious harm to any
person;
(B) Physically restraining or threatening to physically
restrain another person;
(C) Abusing or threatening to abuse the law or legal process;
(D) Knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating
or possessing any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government
identification document, of another person;
(E) Blackmail; or
(F) Causing or threatening to cause financial harm to any
person.
(5) "Labor" means work of economic or financial value.
(6) "Maintain" means, in relation to labor or services, to
secure continued performance thereof, regardless of any initial
agreement on the part of the victim to perform such type of
service.
(7) "Obtain" means, in relation to labor or services, to
secure performance thereof.
(8) "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which creates
a substantial risk of death, causes serious or prolonged
disfigurement, causes prolonged impairment of health or prolonged
loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ.
(9) "Services" means an ongoing relationship between a person
and the actor in which the person performs activities under the
supervision of or for the benefit of the actor. Commercial sexual
activity and sexually-explicit performances are forms of services
under this section. Nothing in this provision should be construed
to legitimize or legalize prostitution.
(10) "Sexually-explicit performance" means a live or public
act or show intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interests of patrons.
(11) "Trafficking victim" means a person subjected to the
practices set forth in sections two or three of this article, or
transported in violation of section four of this article.
§61-2A-2. Involuntary servitude offenses.
(a) Involuntary servitude. -- Any person who knowingly
subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or
services by causing or threatening to cause physical harm to any
person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more than
twenty years.
(b) Unlawful restraint for forced labor. -- Any person who
knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to
forced labor or services by physically restraining or threatening
to physically restrain another person, is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility for not more than fifteen years.
(c) Legal coercion for forced labor. -- Any person who
knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to
forced labor or services by abusing or threatening to abuse the law
or legal process is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for
not more than ten years.
(d) Document servitude. -- Any person who knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or services
by knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or
possessing any actual or purported passport or other immigration
document, or any other actual or purported government
identification document, of another person, is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility for not more than five years.
(e) Debt bondage. -- Any person who knowingly subjects, or
attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or services by
blackmail, or by using or threatening to cause financial harm to
any person, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more
than three years.
§61-2A-3. Sexual servitude of a minor.
Any person who knowingly recruits, entices, harbors,
transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to
recruit, entice, harbor, provide or obtain by any means, another
person under eighteen years of age, knowing that the minor will
engage in commercial sexual activity, sexually-explicit performance
or the production of obscene matter as that phrase is defined by
subsection (j), section one, article eight-a, chapter sixty-one of
this code, or causes or attempts to cause a minor to engage in
commercial sexual activity, sexually-explicit performance or the
production of obscene matter as that phrase is defined by subsection (j), section one, article eight-a, chapter sixty-one of
this code, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility as follows:
(1) In cases involving a minor between the ages of sixteen and
eighteen years, not involving overt force or threat, for not less
than five years nor more than fifteen years;
(2) In cases in which the minor had not attained the age of
sixteen years, not involving overt force or threat, for not less
than ten years nor more than twenty-five years; or
(3) In cases in which the violation involved overt force or
threat, for not less than fifteen year nor more than thirty-five
years.
§61-2A-4. Trafficking of persons for forced labor or services.
Any person who knowingly:
(1) Recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or
obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor,
transport, provide or obtain by any means, another person,
intending or knowing that the person will be subjected to forced
labor or services; or
(2) Benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value,
from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act
described in violation of sections two or three of this article, is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more than fifteen years.
§61-2A-5. Restitution.
Restitution is mandatory under this article. In addition to
any other amount of loss identified, the court shall order
restitution including the greater of: (1) The gross income or
value to the defendant of the victim's labor or services; or (2)
the value of the victim's labor as guaranteed under the federal
minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) or article five-c, chapter twenty-one of the West
Virginia Code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
establish the crimes of
human trafficking and involuntary servitude and to provide criminal
penalties for persons convicted of human trafficking and
involuntary servitude offenses.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs have been
omitted.