CS for SB 1440 - Human Trafficking

• Prohibits employment of minors under age 18 in adult theaters and requires theaters to verify and maintain records of employee/contractor identity and age for at least 3 years.

• Eliminates statute of limitations for human trafficking prosecutions under s. 787.06 for offenses occurring before October 1, 2014.

• Enhances penalties for human trafficking offenses by establishing separate crimes for labor trafficking of children versus adults, and imposing life sentences for commercial sexual trafficking of children under 18 or mentally defective/incapacitated persons.

• Creates new offense of permanently branding human trafficking victims as a second-degree felony and eliminates defendant's defense based on victim's age misrepresentation.

• Repeals sections 796.03, 796.035, and 796.036 (relating to juvenile prostitution offenses) and redirects prosecutions of adults involving minors to human trafficking statutes (s. 787.06) and other crimes; allows expunction of trafficking victims' criminal records for charges not resulting in convictions.