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Senate debate centers on amended bill to target buyers, preserve defenses for trafficking victims
Summary
Senators debated a large floor amendment to Senate Bill 235 that would keep lower penalties for people held out for sex while raising penalties for purchasers and traffickers, add affirmative defenses for victims, and adopt a graduated penalty schedule; the amendment drew extensive floor discussion and was made contested pending further review.
Senator Kimbrell moved a major floor amendment to Senate Bill 235 on the Senate floor, saying the measure would shift the focus of state law toward penalizing people who buy sex and those who traffic people while preserving defenses for victims who acted under duress.
The amendment, presented as a working document for S.235, would (as described on the floor) revert the statutory treatment of people held out for hire toward the existing code, add explicit affirmative defenses for persons who acted under coercion or were trafficking victims, exempt minors from prosecution, and create a graduated penalty schedule that makes earlier offenses misdemeanors and escalates to felony-level penalties for repeated purchasers or traffickers. Sponsor Senator Kimbrell said the intent is "to be tougher on the people who are buying people like that" and to "go after demand for prostitution in the state." He told the chamber, "the vast majority of those individuals being offered for [sex] in this state... is doing so under coercion and duress."
Senator Cash of Anderson asked detailed questions about the proposed fines and prison terms. The sponsor summarized the penalty framework on the floor: for the person held out for hire the amendment retains misdemeanor-level penalties on the first two offenses (the sponsor cited a first-offense fine of $200 and larger fines for repeat offenses), while penalties for purchasers or traffickers would begin with higher monetary fines and escalate to a felony on a third offense (the sponsor described purchaser penalties as a $1,000 fine, then $3,000, and a third offense that could include a $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison). Senator Kimbrell repeatedly emphasized that the amendment was a compromise intended to avoid imposing a felony on a first-time purchaser while making repeat purchasers and traffickers subject to far stiffer penalties than current law.
Other senators pressed the sponsor on statutory construction and proof standards: several members questioned how a purchaser could know whether the person he or she was buying from was a trafficking victim, and whether the bill as written could inadvertently criminalize someone who reasonably believed a partner was acting voluntarily. Senator Williams and the senator identified on the floor as the senator from Williamsburg both spoke to alignments and concerns; the senator from Williamsburg said he would not object to harsher felony penalties for a person who knowingly traffics another, while Kimbrell said the amendment attempts to distinguish between a purchaser who may be unaware and the trafficker who creates the circumstances. On the procedural side, senators asked to carry the amendment over to give the chamber more time to read the complex language and to continue floor conversations.
No final floor vote on the bill as amended is recorded in the transcript. The sponsor moved adoption of the amendment on the floor; subsequent discussion and requests to carry the amendment over followed, and a senator later stated, "Senator, the bill is now contested," indicating additional steps were needed before final action.
Why it matters: sponsor statements and floor debate show the bill would reorient enforcement toward demand and trafficking, affect misdemeanor versus felony exposure for purchasers and traffickers, and explicitly preserve defenses for people who acted under coercion. Lawmakers said the proposal is intended to reduce trafficking by diminishing demand and to avoid imposing disproportionate lifelong criminal records on people who may have been misled or coerced.
Votes, actions and next steps: the sponsor moved adoption of amendment 1A and asked the amendment be adopted as the working document for S.235. Senators asked that the amendment be carried over for further review; the chamber recorded the bill as "contested" and did not take a final passage vote during the session covered by the transcript.
Ending: Sponsors said they aim to return the amendment to the floor in a form acceptable to a broad majority so the Senate can pass a bill that increases penalties for buyers and traffickers while preserving affirmative defenses for victims.
