Tennessee § 39-13-309 - Trafficking for commercial sex act.

§ 39-13-309. Trafficking for commercial sex act.

A person commits the offense of trafficking a person for a commercial sex act who: Knowingly subjects, attempts to subject, benefits from, or attempts to benefit from another person's provision of a commercial sex act; Recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, purchases, or obtains by any other means, another person for the purpose of providing a commercial sex act; or Commits the acts in this subsection (a) when the intended victim of the offense is a law enforcement officer or a law enforcement officer eighteen (18) years of age or older posing as a minor. For purposes of subdivision (a)(2), such means may include, but are not limited to: Causing or threatening to cause physical harm to the person; Physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain the person; Abusing or threatening to abuse the law or legal process; 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 the person; Using blackmail or using or threatening to cause financial harm for the purpose of exercising financial control over the person; or Facilitating or controlling a person's access to a controlled substance. A violation of subsection (a) is a Class B felony, except where the victim of the offense is a child under fifteen (15) years of age, or where the offense occurs on the grounds or facilities or within one thousand feet (1,000') of a public or private school, secondary school, preschool, child care agency, public library, recreational center, or public park, a violation of subsection (a) is a Class A felony. It is not a defense to a violation of this section that: The intended victim of the offense is a law enforcement officer; The victim of the offense is a minor who consented to the act or acts constituting the offense; or The solicitation was unsuccessful, the conduct solicited was not engaged in, or the law enforcement officer could not engage in the solicited offense. Acts 2008, ch. 1140, § 3; 2012, ch. 1075, § 2; 2013, ch. 465, § 2; 2016, ch. 634, § 1; 2019, ch. 123, §§ 1, 2. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2008, ch. 1140, § 1 provided that the act shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Human Trafficking Act of 2007.” Amendments. The 2019 amendment added (a)(3) and (d)(3). Effective Dates. Acts 2019, ch. 123, § 7. July 1, 2019. Cross-References. Penalties for Class A and B felonies, § 40-35-111 . Law Reviews. Filling the Gap: Refining Sex Trafficking Legislation to Address the Problem of Pimping, 68 Vand. L. Rev. 961 (2015). Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking and Forced Labor: Why Current Theories of Corporate Liability Do Not Work, 43 U. Mem. L. Rev. 1047 (2013). Modern-Day Slavery: Lawyers Help Fight Human Trafficking In Tennessee, 49 Tenn. B.J. 12 (2013). Pimps Down: A Prosecutorial Perspective on Domestic Sex Trafficking, 43 U. Mem. L. Rev. 1013 (2013). Prosecuting Demand as a Crime of Human Trafficking: The Eighth Circuit Decision in United States v. Jungers, 43 U. Mem. L. Rev. 917 (2013). Two Crimes for the Price of One: The Problem with Kidnapping Statutes in Tennessee and Beyond (Melanie A. Prince), 76 Tenn. L. Rev. 789 (2009). Using Commercial Driver Licensing Authority to Combat Human Trafficking Related Crimes on America's Highways (Alicia Wilson), 43 U. Mem. L. Rev. 969 (2013).