AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TRAFFICKING AN INDIVIDUAL, FORCED LABOR AND SEXUAL SERVITUDE.

Stronger protections for Delaware trafficking victims

Delaware expands human trafficking to cover knowingly transferring, buying, advertising, or making someone available for forced labor or sexual servitude. Trafficking remains a class C felony, but is a class B felony when the victim is a minor. Knowingly recruiting, buying, advertising, or otherwise obtaining or providing a minor for commercial sex is sexual servitude, a class B felony. No third party needs to be involved: any minor engaged in commercial sex is recognized as a trafficking victim. This recognition is intended to help victims get federal and state resources. For adults, sexual servitude includes using coercion or deception to force someone into commercial sex. The law also creates a crime for knowingly giving, offering, or agreeing to give anything of value for commercial sex with a known sexual-servitude victim. That crime is a class D felony, or class C when the victim is a minor. For both sexual servitude and the new crime, a minor's consent or a mistaken belief about their age is not a defense.