The 2011 Florida Statutes include Human Trafficking under TITLE XLVI CRIMES: Chapter 787.06. The action itself is defined by the Legislature as a form of modern-day slavery that includes: “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, or obtaining another person for transport.” The person committing this crime receives monetary benefits from the forced human slavery trade. At the same time, they may be in violation of several Florida and federal laws against sex crimes and child abuse.
Florida Human Trafficking
As a Florida sex crime, human trafficking takes young children, teenagers or adults as victims, controlling them for profit. They are used for forced labor or sexual exploitation by use of force, fraud or coercion. Many victims of human trafficking end up in prostitution, the sexual entertainment industry, or in sweatshop factories. They are forced into work as domestic servants, restaurant workers, janitors or in hot fields as migrant agricultural workers. Their captors keep them in fear and enslaved. Some are locked up or are kept in line with threats of harm to family members. Most are kept hidden from the pubic or families. Their personal identification papers, passports or money are confiscated.
This crime of human trafficking is illegal under Chapter 787.06. Anyone that participates in this crime commits a second degree felony. It is punishable if they are convicted for knowingly engaging or trying to engage in human trafficking when the intent is for the victim to be forced into labor or services.
Participating in human trafficking includes the following activities:
• Actively helping to transport victims for slave labor or services
• Soliciting or recruiting new victims for slavery
• Harboring human slaves
• Providing a person for transport
• Knowing the victims will be used for forced labor, sex services or other slavery
• Profiting from any part of a scheme to provide human slavery victims
Victims can be induced into human slavery through bonded labor, promises of bypassing U.S. immigration laws and by preying upon vulnerable children and women, homeless people or drug addicts.
Penalty for Human Trafficking
- 15 to 30 years in prison for multiple offenses including human trafficking combined with other crimes such as fraud, forgery, conspiracy, child sex abuse, rape and coercion
- Federal as well as state convictions
- Registration as a sexual offender or sexual predator for a lifetime
Penalties can quickly be escalated as human trafficking generally involves violations of many other laws at the state and federal level. Conviction of this sex crime will cause problems forever in finding work, living choices and the possible return to prison as a repeat offender later on if there is another felony conviction.
Defending Against Florida Sex Crimes
Immediately obtain the legal services of an experienced Florida sex crimes attorney if you have been suspected of participating in human trafficking. Your freedom depends upon getting an early start with an aggressive defense attorney that knows the complexities of Florida and federal human trafficking laws. MUSCA Law has a team of sex crime attorneys that have extensive experience with defending clients against human trafficking offenses. Call now for a free consultation with a Musca Law attorney. We have offices in Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.
