HB 359 Summary

• Renames "promoting prostitution" offenses to "sex trafficking" throughout Alaska statutes and increases penalties for sex trafficking involving minors, establishing it as a class A felony for inducing persons under 20 years of age to engage in prostitution.

• Creates new class C felony for patrons engaging sexual conduct with prostitutes under 18 years of age when the patron is over 18 and at least three years older.

• Criminalizes distribution of indecent material to minors as intentional conduct, changing the standard from "knowingly" to "intentionally."

• Adds Rule 38.3 to Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure permitting testimony by contemporaneous two-way video conference in trials when parties agree or when court finds witness unavailable and testimony furthers important public policy.

• Allows video conference testimony in competency hearings for witnesses including psychiatrists and psychologists, with only the technician present unless court permits otherwise.