Amends TCA Title 24; Title 36; Title 37; Title 39 and Title 40.

This bill revises various provisions in regard to human trafficking, as follows: (1) Under present law, in a criminal case where the victim of certain offenses (such as rape of a child) was 13 years of age or younger at the time the offense was committed, the court may order the child's testimony be taken outside the courtroom by means of two-way closed circuit television. Prior to entering such an order, the trial judge must make certain case-specific findings of necessity. This bill revises the applicable age of the victim from 13 years of age or younger to 18 years of age or younger; (2) Under present law, when an ex parte protection order has been issued in a case of domestic abuse, stalking, or sexual assault, at the required hearing held after the issuance of the order, the court may extend the order for a definite period of time, not to exceed one year. This bill adds the offense of sexual exploitation of a minor and human trafficking offenses to this provision; (3) Under present law, a court may transfer a child who has committed a criminal offense from the juvenile court to be dealt with as an adult. Present law specifies factors for the court to consider in making the determination. This bill adds to those factors, whether the child has a history of trauma or abuse, including, but not limited to, the child being a victim of a human trafficking offense; (4) Under present law governing child protective teams, each team must be composed of one person from the department of children's services, one representative from the office of the district attorney general, one juvenile court officer or investigator from a court of competent jurisdiction, and one properly trained law enforcement officer from the county where the child resides or where the alleged offense occurred. The team may also include a representative from one of the mental health disciplines. This bill adds that the team may also include: (A) A representative trained in child abuse from one of the medical disciplines; and (B) In cases involving an allegation that a child is a victim of a human trafficking offense, a representative from one non-governmental agency specialized in combatting the commercial sexual exploitation of minors; (5) This bill adds to the duties of the child protective investigation team, determining the specialized, non-punitive services necessary to support the child in cases where there is an allegation that the child may be a victim of a human trafficking offense; (6) This bill requires the department of children's services to: (A) Develop a policy to assist foreign national children suspected of being a victim of human trafficking; and (B) Develop and maintain assessment tools to screen system-involved children at risk of human trafficking for experiences of commercial sexual exploitation. The assessment tools must also be distributed to juvenile justice agencies for use in screening children; (7) Under present law, it is not a defense to prosecution for a violation of the offense of patronizing prostitution, soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor, or exploitation of a minor by electronic means that the person charged was ignorant or mistaken as to the age of the minor. This bill adds the offense of trafficking for commercial sex act to the list of applicable offenses under this provision; (8) This bill adds that if it is determined that a victim of trafficking for a commercial sex act is under 18 years of age, then that person will be immune from prosecution for prostitution as a juvenile or adult. Also, under this bill, it will be a defense to prosecution for the offense of trafficking for a commercial sex act that a minor charged with a violation was so charged for conduct that occurred because the minor was also a victim of an act of trafficking for a commercial sex act or involuntary labor servitude, or because the minor was also a victim as defined by the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act; (9) Under present law, a person is not entitled to the expunction of such person's record if the person is charged with multiple offenses or multiple counts in a single indictment and is convicted of the following: one or more of the charged offense or counts in the indictment; or an offense relating to the same criminal conduct or episode as one of the offenses charged in the indictment, including a lesser included offense. This bill adds that this restriction on expunction will not apply if the person is a victim of a human trafficking offense, the conviction is a result of victimization, and the person is applying for expunction relief under the present law provisions governing expunction of records involving offenses related to one's status as a victim of human trafficking. This bill also adds to those expunction provisions that the person with such a status whose records are expunged will not be required to pay fines or fees owed to the court; (10) Under present law, it is a mitigating factor to be considered in sentencing a defendant that the defendant acted under duress or under the domination of another person, even though the duress or the domination of another person is not sufficient to constitute a defense to the crime. This bill adds that this provision includes a misdemeanor or non-violent felony committed while the defendant was a victim of human trafficking or a commercial sex act; and (11) Under present law, the victim of a sexually oriented crime has the right to, among other things, have a support person of the victim's choosing present during any forensic medical examination and during any interview with law enforcement, the prosecuting attorney, the defendant, or the defendant's attorney. This bill adds that the victim also has the right to have a support person present in the courtroom when the victim is testifying against the defendant. ON MARCH 28, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2400, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 revises various provisions of this bill, as follows: (1) Revises the age of a victim whose testimony the court may allow to be taken outside the courtroom by means of two-way closed circuit television to be "under 18 years of age"; (2) Adds victims of the offense of sexual exploitation of a minor and victims of a human trafficking offense to those who may petition for an order of protection (in addition to victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking, as provided in present law); (3) Revises the present law penalties for involuntary servitude. Under present law, the offense is generally a Class C felony, but is enhanced to a Class B felony if the victim was under 13 years of age. This amendment makes the enhanced penalty a Class A felony instead of Class B felony, and makes it applicable if the victim was under 18 years of age; (4) Establishes an enhanced penalty of a Class A felony for trafficking for forced labor or services if the victim was a minor. Under present law, the offense is generally punished as a Class C felony; (5) Revises the penalty for trafficking for a commercial sex act. Under present law, the offense is a Class B felony, except that it is a Class A felony where the victim of the offense is a child under 15 years of age, or where the offense occurs on the grounds or facilities or within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, secondary school, preschool, child care agency, public library, recreational center, or public park. This amendment removes the enhanced penalty for offenses that occur in the specified locations, and makes the Class A felony applicable to cases where the victim was a minor; and (6) Revises the penalty for promoting prostitution. Under present law, the offense is generally a Class E felony; however, promoting prostitution is punishable the same as trafficking for a commercial sex act (see (5) above) if the person being promoted is less than 18 years of age and is a Class D felony if the person being promoted has an intellectual disability. This amendment rewrites the enhanced penalty provision to make the offense a Class A felony if the victim is a minor or a person with an intellectual disability. ON APRIL 25, 2022, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2400 FOR HOUSE BILL 2147, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2400, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 revises the present law penalty for patronizing prostitution. Under present law, the offense is generally a Class A misdemeanor; however, patronizing prostitution from a person who is younger than 18 years of age or has an intellectual disability is punishable the same as trafficking for a commercial sex act (see (5) above). This amendment rewrites the enhanced penalty provision to make the offense a Class A felony if the victim is a minor or a person with an intellectual disability. This amendment adds that the enhanced penalty will also apply in cases of patronizing prostitution from a person who is a law enforcement officer posing as a minor.