CHAPTER 710A
HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Referred to in §135B.34, 135C.33, 152.5A, 331.307, 364.22, 633.535, 701.1, 808B.3, 915.35, 915.37

  
     
710A.1  Definitions.
  As used in this chapter:
  1.  “Commercial sexual activity” means any sex act or sexually explicit performance for which anything of value is given, promised to, or received by any person and includes, but is not limited to, prostitution, participation in the production of pornography, and performance in strip clubs.
  2.  “Debt bondage” means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge of the debtor’s personal services or a person under the control of a debtor’s personal services as a security for debt if the reasonable value of such services is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined.
  3.  “Forced labor or services” means labor or services that are performed or provided by another person and that are obtained or maintained through any of the following:
  a.  Causing or threatening to cause serious physical injury to any person.
  b.  Physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain another person.
  c.  Abusing or threatening to abuse the law or legal process.
  d.  Knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document, of another person.
  4.  a.  “Human trafficking” means participating in a venture to recruit, harbor, transport, supply provisions, or obtain a person for any of the following purposes:
  (1)  Forced labor or service that results in involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
  (2)  Commercial sexual activity through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, except that if the trafficked person is under the age of eighteen, the commercial sexual activity need not involve force, fraud, or coercion.
  b.  “Human trafficking” also means knowingly purchasing or attempting to purchase services involving commercial sexual activity from a victim or another person engaged in human trafficking.
  5.  “Involuntary servitude” means a condition of servitude induced by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that if the person did not enter into or continue in such condition, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint or the threatened abuse of legal process.
  6.  “Labor” means work of economic or financial value.
  7.  “Maintain” means, in relation to labor and services, to secure continued performance thereof, regardless of any initial agreement on the part of the victim to perform such type of services.
  8.  “Obtain” means, in relation to labor or services, to secure performance thereof.
  9.  “Peonage” means a status or condition of involuntary servitude based upon real or alleged indebtedness.
  10.  “Services” means an ongoing relationship between a person and the actor in which the person performs activities under the supervision of or for the benefit of the actor, including commercial sexual activity and sexually explicit performances.
  11.  “Sexually explicit performance” means a live or public act or show intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interest of patrons.
  12.  “Venture” means any group of two or more persons associated in fact, whether or not a legal entity.
  13.  “Victim” means a person subjected to human trafficking.
2006 Acts, ch 1074, §2; 2009 Acts, ch 19, §1; 2012 Acts, ch 1057, §2
Referred to in §80.45, 80.45A, 217.30, 232.68, 321.208, 915.51, 915.87

     
710A.2  Human trafficking.
  1.  A person who knowingly engages in human trafficking is guilty of a class “D” felony, except that if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “C” felony.
  2.  A person who knowingly engages in human trafficking by causing or threatening to cause serious physical injury to another person is guilty of a class “C” felony, except that if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “B” felony.
  3.  A person who knowingly engages in human trafficking by physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain another person is guilty of a class “D” felony, except that if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “C” felony.
  4.  A person who knowingly engages in human trafficking by soliciting services or benefiting from the services of a victim is guilty of a class “D” felony, except that if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “C” felony.
  5.  A person who knowingly engages in human trafficking by abusing or threatening to abuse the law or legal process is guilty of a class “D” felony, except that if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “C” felony.
  6.  A person who knowingly engages in human trafficking by knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document of a victim is guilty of a class “D” felony, except that if that other person is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “C” felony.
  7.  A person who benefits financially or by receiving anything of value from knowing participation in human trafficking is guilty of a class “D” felony, except that if the victim is under the age of eighteen, the person is guilty of a class “C” felony.
  8.  A person’s ignorance of the age of the victim or a belief that the victim was older is not a defense to a violation of this section.
2006 Acts, ch 1074, §3; 2012 Acts, ch 1057, §3; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §187
Referred to in §9E.2, 152C.5, 272.2, 692A.102, 710A.3, 710A.5, 802.2D, 911.2A, 911.2B, 915.94, 915.95

     
710A.2A  Solicitation of commercial sexual activity.
  A person shall not entice, coerce, or recruit, or attempt to entice, coerce, or recruit, either a person who is under the age of eighteen or a law enforcement officer or agent who is representing that the officer or agent is under the age of eighteen, to engage in a commercial sexual activity. A person who violates this section commits a class “D” felony.
2012 Acts, ch 1057, §4; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §188
Referred to in §692A.102

     
710A.3  Affirmative defense.
  It shall be an affirmative defense, in addition to any other affirmative defenses for which the victim might be eligible, to a prosecution for a criminal violation directly related to the defendant’s status as a victim of a crime that is a violation of section 710A.2, that the defendant committed the violation under compulsion by another’s threat of serious injury, provided that the defendant reasonably believed that such injury was imminent.
2006 Acts, ch 1074, §4

     
710A.4  Restitution.
  The gross income of the defendant or the value of labor or services performed by the victim to the defendant shall be considered when determining the amount of restitution.
2006 Acts, ch 1074, §5

     
710A.5  Certification.
  A law enforcement agency investigating a crime described in section 710A.2 shall notify the attorney general in writing about the investigation. Upon request of the attorney general, such law enforcement agency shall provide copies of any investigative reports describing the immigration status and cooperation of the victim. The attorney general shall certify in writing to the United States department of justice or other federal agency that an investigation or prosecution under this chapter has begun and that the person who is a likely victim of a crime described in section 710A.2 is willing to cooperate or is cooperating with the investigation to enable the person, if eligible under federal law, to qualify for an appropriate special immigrant visa and to access available federal benefits. Cooperation with law enforcement shall not be required of a minor victim of a crime described in section 710A.2. This certification shall be made available to the victim and the victim’s designated legal representative.
2006 Acts, ch 1074, §6

  
     
710A.6  Outreach, public awareness, and training programs.
  The crime victim assistance division of the department of justice, in cooperation with other governmental agencies and nongovernmental or community organizations, shall develop and conduct outreach, public awareness, and training programs for the general public, law enforcement agencies, first responders, potential victims, and persons conducting or regularly dealing with businesses or other ventures that have a high statistical incidence of debt bondage or forced labor or services. The programs shall train participants to recognize and report incidents of human trafficking and to suppress the demand that fosters exploitation of persons and leads to human trafficking.
2015 Acts, ch 138, §138, 161, 162
Referred to in §915.94