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Committee approves tougher minimums for child sex trafficking and narrows labor-trafficking enhancements
Summary
Second-substitute House Bill 405 increases mandatory minimums for trafficking children and retains aggravated-trafficking provisions while removing a labor-trafficking sentence enhancement; witnesses debated whether remaining definitions could still reach labor cases.
The Senate Judiciary committee adopted a second substitute and favorably recommended House Bill 405, a bill amending penalties for human trafficking offenses involving sexual exploitation of children and retaining aggravated-trafficking aggravators while removing an earlier proposed enhancement for labor trafficking.
Representative Perucci, sponsor of HB 405, said the second substitute narrows the bill to concentrate on sexual exploitation and aggravated human trafficking of a child and removes enhancements tied to smuggling or general labor trafficking. She described the change as aligning Utah’s penalties with federal standards: the bill raises the mandatory minimum sentence for trafficking to 10 years and increases the penalty for trafficking children under 14 to 15 years in some provisions.
Victim-services witnesses supported the stronger penalties. Marlies Jones, director of the Victim Services Commission, said lengthened sentences can provide survivors more years of safety and limit future risk of contact with perpetrators.
Defense and business-group witnesses — including Mark Moffat and Steve Burton representing defense organizations — expressed concern that the bill’s definitions remain broad, and they warned the statutory definition of labor trafficking could still reach employers who recruit visa workers if allegations of fraud or coercion are later raised. They urged further refinement to avoid unintended application of first-degree felony penalties to legitimate businesses.
Representative Perucci said she removed the labor-trafficking enhancement and was comfortable retaining aggravated-trafficking provisions tied to severe harms such as death, serious bodily injury, and sexual abuse, and she said ordinary recruitment of visa workers would not “blip on this radar.”
Senator Baldry moved adoption of the second substitute and to favorably recommend HB 405 to the floor. The committee adopted both motions and recommended the second substitute to the Senate floor; the transcript records the committee moving the bill forward unanimously.
The committee record shows the sponsor and defense stakeholders agreed to continue discussions about statutory language as the bill proceeds.
