Human trafficking for sexual servitude Criminal Defense Attorneys in Colorado

Have you been charged with the crime § 18-3-504 Human trafficking for sexual servitude? This is a serious charge and demands immediate legal representation and guidance. The Law Offices of Decker & Jones know how to successfully defend a §18-3-504 Human trafficking for sexual servitude charge in the State of Colorado to protect your innocence.

What to do if Charged?

1. Do not contact the accuser

You may be tempted to contact the accuser to try and resolve the issue directly. Do not contact the accuser. All correspondence before and after the incident can and will be used against you. A lawyer should be representing you in all stages to ensure that nothing hurts the defense case.

2. Do not destroy evidence

You may think that destroying any evidence in your possession will help your defense case. However tampering with evidence will almost always backfire against the defendant. Prosecutors have many resources to recover evidence that you think has been completely destroyed. When the evidence is presented in negotiations or at trial, it will make you look more guilty if you tried to destroy it beforehand. Tampering with evidence is also a crime in itself, which can be added on top of the sentence you could receive for Human trafficking for sexual servitude

3. Contact an experienced attorney

When you are charged with Human trafficking for sexual servitude, it is critical to exercise your right to an attorney. Your life is on the line and The Law Offices of Decker & Jones are prepared to defend your case. Contact us immediately at 303-573-5253 – even if you have not been charged yet. You need a defense team working in your corner to combat the prosecution ASAP.

The Basics Of § 18-3-504 Human trafficking for sexual servitude

See below to read the law pertaining to § 18-3-504 Human trafficking for sexual servitude

The Law

Reference the definitions from § 18-3-504 for details on the terminology

Definitions

Decker & Jones will help you understand how the law pertains to your case

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§ 18-3-504

(1)(a) A person commits human trafficking for sexual servitude if the person knowingly sells, recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, isolates, entices, provides, receives, or obtains by any means another person for the purpose of coercing the person to engage in commercial sexual activity.

(b) Human trafficking for sexual servitude is a class 3 felony.

(2)(a) A person commits human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude if the person:

(I) Knowingly sells, recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, isolates, entices, provides, receives, obtains by any means, maintains, or makes available a minor for the purpose of commercial sexual activity; or

(II) Knowingly advertises, offers to sell, or sells travel services that facilitate an activity prohibited pursuant to subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section.

(b) Human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude is a class 2 felony. The court shall sentence a person convicted of such a class 2 felony to the department of corrections for a term of at least the minimum of the presumptive range for a class 2 felony, as set forth in section 18-1.3-401.

(c) In any prosecution under this subsection (2), it is not a defense that:

(I) The minor consented to being sold, recruited, harbored, transported, transferred, isolated, enticed, provided, received, obtained, or maintained by the defendant for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity;

(II) The minor consented to participating in commercial sexual activity;

(III) The defendant did not know the minor’s age or reasonably believed the minor to be eighteen years of age or older; or

(IV) The minor or another person represented the minor to be eighteen years of age or older.

(2.5) It is an affirmative defense to a charge pursuant to subsection (2) of this section if the person being charged can demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that, at the time of the offense, he or she was a victim of human trafficking for sexual servitude who was forced or coerced into engaging in the human trafficking of minors for sexual servitude pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.

(3) A person does not need to receive any of the proceeds of any commercial sexual activity to commit an offense described in this section.

(4) Conviction for an offense described in this section does not preclude conviction for an offense described in article 6 or 7 of this title based in whole or in part on the same or related conduct, and the court shall not require the prosecution to elect at trial between such offenses.

§ 18-3-502 Definitions

As used in this part 5, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Adult” means a person eighteen years of age or older.

(2) “Coercing” means inducing a person to act or to refrain from acting, if the inducement is accomplished by any one or more of the following means:

(a) The use or threat of the use of force against, abduction of, causing of serious harm to, or physical restraint of a person;

(b) The use of a plan, pattern, or statement for the purpose of causing the person to believe that failure to perform the act or failure to refrain from performing the act will result in the use of force against, abduction of, causing of serious harm to, or physical restraint of that person or another person;

(c) Using or threatening to use the law or the legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed;

(d) Threatening to notify law enforcement officials that a person is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws;

(e) The destruction or taking, or a threat to destroy or take, a person’s identification document or other property;

(f) Controlling or threatening to control a person’s access to a controlled substance, as defined in section 18-18-102(5);

(g) The use of debt bondage; or

(h) The exploitation of a person’s physical or mental impairment, where such impairment has a substantial adverse effect on the person’s cognitive or volitional functions.

(3) “Commercial sexual activity” means sexual activity for which anything of value is given to, promised to, or received by a person.

(4) “Debt bondage” means:

(a) Demanding commercial sexual activity as payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt; or

(b) Demanding labor or services as payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt and failing to apply the reasonable value of the labor or services toward the liquidation of the debt; or

(c) Demanding labor or services where the length of the labor or services is not limited and the nature of the labor or services is not defined.

(5) “Identification document” means a real or purported passport, driver’s license, immigration document, travel document, or other government-issued identification document, including a document issued by a foreign government.

(6) “Maintain” means to provide sustenance or care for a minor and includes but is not limited to providing shelter, food, clothing, drugs, medical care, or communication services.

(7) “Makes available” means to facilitate contact between a minor and another person.

(8) “Minor” means a person less than eighteen years of age.

(9) “Person” has the same meaning as set forth in section 2-4-401(8), C.R.S.

(10) “Serious harm” means bodily injury or any other harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, financial, or reputational harm, which is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person to perform or continue to perform labor or services or sexual activity to avoid incurring the harm.

(11) “Sexual activity” means:

(a) Sexual contact, as defined in section 18-3-401(4);

(b) Sexual intrusion, as defined in section 18-3-401(5);

(c) Sexual penetration, as defined in section 18-3-401(6);

(d) Sexual exploitation of a child, pursuant to section 18-6-403(3)(a) and (3)(d); or

(e) An obscene performance, as defined in section 18-7-101.

(11.5) “Travel services” includes, but is not limited to, the following services, offered either on a wholesale or retail basis:

(a) Transportation by air, sea, road, or rail;

(b) Related ground transportation;

(c) Hotel accommodations; or

(d) Package tours.

(12) “Victim” means a person who is alleged to have been, or who has been, subjected to human trafficking, as described in section 18-3-503 or section 18-3-504.

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