Increasing protection for minors when victims of human trafficking
Summary
SB 679 expands and clarifies West Virginia’s criminal code provisions dealing with prostitution and human trafficking, with a particular focus on minors who are victims of sex trafficking. The bill amends the state’s prostitution statute to state that a minor may not be prosecuted or held criminally liable for prostitution if the court determines the minor is a victim of human trafficking, and it creates a rebuttable presumption that a charged minor is a victim. It also preserves the existing prohibition on prosecuting minors for prostitution-related conduct when trafficking victimization is shown, and it ties those minors to child welfare and trauma-informed services.
The bill also updates the human trafficking article’s definitions and penalties, including the terms coercion, commercial sexual activity, forced labor, sexual servitude, and victim. It maintains felony penalties for patronizing a victim of sexual servitude and imposes a higher penalty when the victim is a minor. In addition, SB 679 strengthens post-conviction relief by allowing a trafficking victim to petition to vacate and expunge a prostitution conviction or juvenile adjudication if the offense was a direct result of trafficking, and it removes age and criminal-history barriers and any rehabilitation requirement for that relief.
Impact
SB 679 would amend §§61-8-5 and 61-14-1, 61-14-6, 61-14-8, and 61-14-9 of the West Virginia Code. Its main legal effect is to shift minors who are trafficking victims away from criminal liability for prostitution and toward protective services, while also broadening the availability of expungement and vacatur for trafficking-related prostitution convictions and juvenile adjudications. The bill would also reinforce felony penalties for buyers of commercial sex from trafficking victims, especially minors, and would refine statutory definitions used in trafficking prosecutions and victim determinations.
Sentiment
The available context shows a generally supportive posture toward the bill, with the stated purpose being to provide additional protection for minor victims of sex trafficking. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided materials, so there is no evidence of formal opposition or amendment debate in the record supplied. The bill’s framing suggests a victim-protection and anti-trafficking approach rather than a punitive one toward minors.
Contention
The main policy issue embedded in the bill is how to distinguish trafficking victims from offenders in prostitution-related cases, especially for minors. The bill resolves that issue by creating a rebuttable presumption of victim status and by barring criminal liability when the court finds trafficking victimization, but it still leaves room for prosecution of other prostitution-related conduct unless coercion is shown. Another point that could draw scrutiny is the expanded expungement relief, which removes age, criminal-history, and rehabilitation hurdles for trafficking victims seeking to clear records. No specific opposition is documented in the provided materials, but these are the provisions most likely to generate debate.