Colorado § 18-3-504 - Human trafficking for sexual servitude - human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude.

§ 18-3-504. Human trafficking for sexual servitude - human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude.

(1) (a) A person commits human trafficking for sexual servitude if the person knowingly sells, recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, isolates, entices, provides, receives, or obtains by any means another person for the purpose of coercing the person to engage in commercial sexual activity.

(b) Human trafficking for sexual servitude is a class 3 felony.

(2) (a) A person commits human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude if the person:

(I) Knowingly sells, recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, isolates, entices, provides, receives, obtains by any means, maintains, or makes available a minor for the purpose of commercial sexual activity; or

(II) Knowingly advertises, offers to sell, or sells travel services that facilitate an activity prohibited pursuant to subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section.

(b) Human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude is a class 2 felony. The court shall sentence a person convicted of such a class 2 felony to the department of corrections for a term of at least the minimum of the presumptive range for a class 2 felony, as set forth in section 18-1.3-401.

(c) In any prosecution under this subsection (2), it is not a defense that:

(I) The minor consented to being sold, recruited, harbored, transported, transferred, isolated, enticed, provided, received, obtained, or maintained by the defendant for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity;

(II) The minor consented to participating in commercial sexual activity;

(III) The defendant did not know the minor's age or reasonably believed the minor to be eighteen years of age or older; or

(IV) The minor or another person represented the minor to be eighteen years of age or older.

(2.5) It is an affirmative defense to a charge pursuant to this section if the person being charged, at the time of the offense, was a victim of human trafficking for sexual servitude who was forced or coerced into engaging in human trafficking for sexual servitude pursuant to this section.

(3) A person does not need to receive any of the proceeds of any commercial sexual activity to commit an offense described in this section.

(4) Conviction for an offense described in this section does not preclude conviction for an offense described in article 6 or 7 of this title based in whole or in part on the same or related conduct, and the court shall not require the prosecution to elect at trial between such offenses.

Source: L. 2014: Entire part R&RE, (HB 14-1273), ch. 282, p. 1146, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2017: (2)(b) amended, (HB 17-1172), ch. 161, p. 598, § 1, effective August 9; (2)(a) amended and (2.5) added, (HB 17-1072), ch. 250, p. 1049, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2019: (1)(a) and (2)(a) amended, (SB 19-185), ch. 147, p. 1766, § 4, effective May 6. L. 2024: (2.5) amended, (SB 24-035), ch. 54, p. 187, § 4, effective April 11.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 19-185, see section 1 of chapter 147, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

ANNOTATION

Conviction for human trafficking does not violate defendant's right to equal protection because the statute proscribes conduct that is not proscribed by the soliciting for child prostitution statute under § 18-7-402 or by the inducement of child prostitution statute under § 18-7-405.5. Defendant's "maintaining" and "transporting" conduct ran afoul of the human trafficking statute in ways that are not proscribed by the lesser offenses. People v. Shannon, 2024 COA 41, 553 P.3d 239.

Former § 18-3-502 prohibited the sale, exchange, barter, or lease of a child but not the sale, exchange, barter, or lease of a child's services. Patrons of a prostituted minor victim purchased only her services and did not purchase the victim herself. People v. Cardenas, 2014 COA 35, 338 P.3d 430.

The phrase "for the purpose of coercing" in subsection (1)(a) requires evidence that the defendant enticed or recruited the victim with the intent of coercing the victim to engage in commercial sexual activity. "For the purpose of coercing" does not mean "with the effect of" coercing. The proper focus of the section is on the defendant's intent, not the victim's susceptibility to being trafficked. People v. Hines, 2021 COA 45, 491 P.3d 578.

Modified unanimity instruction was not required when the prosecution charged the defendant with a single count of human trafficking based on a series of discrete acts. Each of the discrete acts was committed by the defendant with an intent to achieve the objective of inducing the victim to engage in commercial sexual activity for his benefit. People v. Hines, 2021 COA 45, 491 P.3d 578.