SF1270 Summary

• Protects identities of sex trafficking victims in public law enforcement data by withholding access to records that specifically identify minor victims, effective August 1, 2015.

• Creates tiered criminal penalties for engaging in or hiring minors for prostitution: up to 20 years imprisonment for victims under 13, up to 10 years for ages 13-15, and up to 5 years for ages 16-17.

• Eliminates undercover operative involvement as a defense to prostitution charges and expands the affirmative trafficking victim defense to apply to victims who committed acts as a result of being trafficked, not just under direct compulsion.

• Prohibits law enforcement from requiring polygraph examinations of sex trafficking or sexual assault complainants as a condition of investigation or prosecution.

• Extends statute of limitations for sex trafficking and sexual assault prosecutions involving minor victims to the later of 9 years after the offense or 3 years after reporting, with no limit if DNA evidence is collected and preserved.