04/15/2012 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE

CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 359(FIN) am                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     "An  Act   relating  to  conspiracy  to   commit  human                                                                    
     trafficking in  the first degree or  sex trafficking in                                                                    
     the   first   degree;   relating  to   the   crime   of                                                                    
     distribution of indecent material  to minors, the crime                                                                    
     of  online   enticement  of  a  minor,   the  crime  of                                                                    
     prostitution,  and   the  crime  of   sex  trafficking;                                                                    
     relating   to   forfeiture    of   property   used   in                                                                    
     prostitution offenses;  relating to testimony  by video                                                                    
     conference; adding Rule 38.3,  Alaska Rules of Criminal                                                                    
     Procedure; and providing for an effective date."                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
9:21:21 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ANNIE  CARPENETI, DEPARTMENT  OF LAW,  stated that  the bill                                                                    
addressed  sex   trafficking.  More   than  half   the  bill                                                                    
addressed a change  in the title of a  crime from "promoting                                                                    
prostitution  in  the  first,   second,  third,  and  fourth                                                                    
degrees" to "sex trafficking" in  those degrees. The reasons                                                                    
for  the  change  in  title   were:  1)  Communication.  Law                                                                    
enforcement,  almost uniformly,  describes  this conduct  as                                                                    
sex trafficking, rather  than "promoting prostitution." This                                                                    
communication  has led  to some  misunderstandings over  the                                                                    
last  several  years.  2)  It   is  considered  to  be  more                                                                    
respectful  to  victims of  these  crimes  to be  considered                                                                    
victims  of  sex trafficking,  rather  than  people who  are                                                                    
being promoted  as prostitutes.  The pages  of the  bill are                                                                    
conforming,  throughout the  statutes, to  the name  change.                                                                    
The  bill also  adds two  crimes to  the state's  conspiracy                                                                    
law: 1)  Human trafficking in  the first degree, which  is a                                                                    
class-A felony; and 2) Sex  trafficking in the first degree,                                                                    
which is either a class-A  felony, if you are trafficking an                                                                    
adult; or an  unclassified felony, if you  are trafficking a                                                                    
child. The bill  raised the penalty for being a  patron of a                                                                    
prostitute  who is  under 18  years of  age, from  a class-B                                                                    
misdemeanor to a  class-C felony, if the patron  is over 18-                                                                    
years-old  and  is  at  least three  years  older  than  the                                                                    
victim. The  bill also addressed  the crime  of distribution                                                                    
of  indecent  material to  minors.  The  bill tightened  the                                                                    
elements of the  crime to require the  State, in prosecuting                                                                    
the  person  for this  offence,  to  prove that  the  person                                                                    
intentionally distributed the material  or possessed it with                                                                    
intent to distribute.  The bill did not make  any changes in                                                                    
the elements of the offenses,  with one exception: the House                                                                    
Finance Committee changed  the age of the  victim from under                                                                    
18  years of  age to  less than  20 years  of age,  for that                                                                    
crime to be considered  an unclassified felony. The rational                                                                    
for that  change was that  18 to 19  year old people  may be                                                                    
considered adults  in some ways,  but were  still vulnerable                                                                    
to victimization by older people.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stedman discussed the  fiscal notes in the members'                                                                    
packets.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Hoffman MOVED  to report  CSHB  359(FIN)am out  of                                                                    
committee   with   individual    recommendations   and   the                                                                    
accompanying fiscal notes. There  being NO OBJECTION, it was                                                                    
so ordered.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CSHB 359(FIN)am  was REPORTED  out of  committee with  a "do                                                                    
pass"   recommendation   and   with   previously   published                                                                    
indeterminate  fiscal notes:  FN8(COURT) and  FN14(DOC), and                                                                    
previously   published   zero    fiscal   notes:   FN9(DOA),                                                                    
FN10(DOA), FN11(DOL), FN12(DPS), FN13(DPS).