Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

S-3821.1
                                 SENATE BILL 5945
     State of Washington         67th Legislature            2022 Regular Session
     By Senators   Sefzik,   Brown,   Hasegawa,   Wagoner,   J.   Wilson,   and   L.
     Wilson
     Read first time 01/25/22.   Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
     AN ACT Relating to amending the criminal penalty and statute of
 limitations for human trafficking; amending RCW 9A.40.100; reenacting
 and amending RCW 9A.04.080; and prescribing penalties.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1. RCW 9A.04.080 and 2019 c 93 s 2 and 2019 c 87 s 2 are
 each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) Prosecutions for criminal offenses shall not be commenced
 after the periods prescribed in this section.
     (a) The following offenses may be prosecuted at any time after
 their commission:
     (i) Murder;
     (ii) Homicide by abuse;
     (iii) Arson if a death results;
     (iv) Vehicular homicide;
     (v) Vehicular assault if a death results;
     (vi) Hit-and-run injury-accident if a death results (RCW
 46.52.020(4));
     (vii) Rape in the first degree (RCW 9A.44.040) if the victim is
 under the age of ((sixteen)) 16;
     (viii) Rape in the second degree (RCW 9A.44.050) if the victim is
 under the age of ((sixteen)) 16;
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     (ix) Rape of a child in the first degree (RCW 9A.44.073);
     (x) Rape of a child in the second degree (RCW 9A.44.076);
     (xi) Rape of a child in the third degree (RCW 9A.44.079);
     (xii) Sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree (RCW
 9A.44.093);
     (xiii) Custodial sexual misconduct in the first degree (RCW
 9A.44.160);
     (xiv) Child molestation in the first degree (RCW 9A.44.083);
     (xv) Child molestation in the second degree (RCW 9A.44.086);
     (xvi) Child molestation in the third degree (RCW 9A.44.089); and
     (xvii) Sexual exploitation of a minor (RCW 9.68A.040).
     (b) Except as provided in (a) of this subsection, the following
 offenses may not be prosecuted more than ((twenty)) 20 years after
 its commission:
     (i) Rape in the first degree (RCW 9A.44.040);
     (ii) Rape in the second degree (RCW 9A.44.050); ((or))
     (iii) Indecent liberties (RCW 9A.44.100); or
     (iv) Trafficking (RCW 9A.40.100).
     (c) The following offenses may not be prosecuted more than
 ((ten)) 10 years after its commission:
     (i) Any felony committed by a public officer if the commission is
 in connection with the duties of his or her office or constitutes a
 breach of his or her public duty or a violation of the oath of
 office;
     (ii) Arson if no death results;
     (iii) Rape in the third degree (RCW 9A.44.060); or
     (iv) Attempted murder((; or
     (v) Trafficking under RCW 9A.40.100)).
     (d) A violation of any offense listed in this subsection (1)(d)
 may be prosecuted up to ((ten)) 10 years after its commission or, if
 committed against a victim under the age of ((eighteen)) 18, up to
 the victim's ((thirtieth)) 30th birthday, whichever is later:
     (i) RCW 9.68A.100 (commercial sexual abuse of a minor);
     (ii) RCW 9.68A.101 (promoting commercial sexual abuse of a
 minor);
     (iii) RCW 9.68A.102 (promoting travel for commercial sexual abuse
 of a minor); or
     (iv) RCW 9A.64.020 (incest).
     (e) The following offenses may not be prosecuted more than six
 years after its commission or discovery, whichever occurs later:
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     (i) Violations of RCW 9A.82.060 or 9A.82.080;
     (ii) Any felony violation of chapter 9A.83 RCW;
     (iii) Any felony violation of chapter 9.35 RCW;
     (iv) Theft in the first or second degree under chapter 9A.56 RCW
 when accomplished by color or aid of deception;
     (v) Theft from a vulnerable adult under RCW 9A.56.400; or
     (vi) Trafficking in stolen property in the first or second degree
 under chapter 9A.82 RCW in which the stolen property is a motor
 vehicle or major component part of a motor vehicle as defined in RCW
 46.80.010.
     (f) The following offenses may not be prosecuted more than five
 years after its commission: Any class C felony under chapter 74.09,
 82.36, or 82.38 RCW.
     (g) Bigamy may not be prosecuted more than three years after the
 time specified in RCW 9A.64.010.
     (h) A violation of RCW 9A.56.030 may not be prosecuted more than
 three years after the discovery of the offense when the victim is a
 tax exempt corporation under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3).
     (i) No other felony may be prosecuted more than three years after
 its commission; except that in a prosecution under RCW 9A.44.115, if
 the person who was viewed, photographed, or filmed did not realize at
 the time that he or she was being viewed, photographed, or filmed,
 the prosecution must be commenced within two years of the time the
 person who was viewed or in the photograph or film first learns that
 he or she was viewed, photographed, or filmed.
     (j) No gross misdemeanor may be prosecuted more than two years
 after its commission.
     (k) No misdemeanor may be prosecuted more than one year after its
 commission.
     (2) The periods of limitation prescribed in subsection (1) of
 this section do not run during any time when the person charged is
 not usually and publicly resident within this state.
     (3) In any prosecution for a sex offense as defined in RCW
 9.94A.030, the periods of limitation prescribed in subsection (1) of
 this section run from the date of commission or two years from the
 date on which the identity of the suspect is conclusively established
 by ((deoxyribonucleic acid)) DNA testing or by photograph as defined
 in RCW 9.68A.011, whichever is later.
     (4) If, before the end of a period of limitation prescribed in
 subsection (1) of this section, an indictment has been found or a
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  complaint or an information has been filed, and the indictment,
  complaint, or information is set aside, then the period of limitation
  is extended by a period equal to the length of time from the finding
  or filing to the setting aside.
     Sec. 2.   RCW 9A.40.100 and 2017 c 126 s 1 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of trafficking in the first degree when:
     (a) Such person:
     (i) Recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, provides, obtains,
 buys, purchases, or receives by any means another person knowing, or
 in reckless disregard of the fact, (A) that force, fraud, or coercion
 as defined in RCW 9A.36.070 will be used to cause the person to
 engage in:
     (I) Forced labor;
     (II) Involuntary servitude;
     (III) A sexually explicit act; or
     (IV) A commercial sex act, or (B) that the person has not
 attained the age of ((eighteen)) 18 years and is caused to engage in
 a sexually explicit act or a commercial sex act; or
     (ii) Benefits financially or by receiving anything of value from
 participation in a venture that has engaged in acts set forth in
 (a)(i) of this subsection; and
     (b) The acts or venture set forth in (a) of this subsection:
     (i) Involve committing or attempting to commit kidnapping;
     (ii) Involve a finding of sexual motivation under RCW 9.94A.835;
     (iii) Involve the illegal harvesting or sale of human organs; or
     (iv) Result in a death.
     (2) Trafficking in the first degree is a class A felony.
     (3)(a) A person is guilty of trafficking in the second degree
 when such person:
     (i) Recruits, harbors, transports, transfers, provides, obtains,
 buys, purchases, or receives by any means another person knowing, or
 in reckless disregard of the fact, that force, fraud, or coercion as
 defined in RCW 9A.36.070 will be used to cause the person to engage
 in forced labor, involuntary servitude, a sexually explicit act, or a
 commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of
 ((eighteen)) 18 years and is caused to engage in a sexually explicit
 act or a commercial sex act; or
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     (ii) Benefits financially or by receiving anything of value from
 participation in a venture that has engaged in acts set forth in
 (a)(i) of this subsection.
     (b) Trafficking in the second degree is a class A felony.
     (4)(a) In any prosecution under this chapter in which the offense
 or degree of the offense depends on the victim's age, it is not a
 defense that the perpetrator did not know the victim's age, or that
 the perpetrator believed the victim to be older, as the case may be.
     (b) A person who is either convicted or given a deferred sentence
 or a deferred prosecution or who has entered into a statutory or
 nonstatutory diversion agreement as a result of an arrest for a
 violation of a trafficking crime shall be assessed a ((ten thousand
 dollar)) $30,000 fee.
     (c) The court shall not reduce, waive, or suspend payment of all
 or part of the fee assessed in this section unless it finds, on the
 record, that the offender does not have the ability to pay the fee in
 which case it may reduce the fee by an amount up to two-thirds of the
 maximum allowable fee.
     (d) Fees assessed under this section shall be collected by the
 clerk of the court and remitted to the treasurer of the county where
 the offense occurred for deposit in the county general fund, except
 in cases in which the offense occurred in a city or town that
 provides for its own law enforcement, in which case these amounts
 shall be remitted to the treasurer of the city or town for deposit in
 the general fund of the city or town. Revenue from the fees must be
 used for local efforts to reduce the commercial sale of sex
 including, but not limited to, increasing enforcement of commercial
 sex laws.
     (i) At least ((fifty)) 50 percent of the revenue from fees
 imposed under this section must be spent on prevention, including
 education programs for offenders, such as john school, and
 rehabilitative services, such as mental health and substance abuse
 counseling, parenting skills, training, housing relief, education,
 vocational training, drop-in centers, and employment counseling.
     (ii) Revenues from these fees are not subject to the distribution
 requirements under RCW 3.50.100, 3.62.020, 3.62.040, 10.82.070, or
 35.20.220.
     (5) If the victim of any offense identified in this section is a
 minor, force, fraud, or coercion are not necessary elements of an
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 offense and consent to the sexually explicit act or commercial sex
 act does not constitute a defense.
     (6) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Commercial sex act" means any act of sexual contact or
 sexual intercourse, both as defined in chapter 9A.44 RCW, for which
 something of value is given or received by any person; and
     (b) "Sexually explicit act" means a public, private, or live
 photographed, recorded, or videotaped act or show intended to arouse
 or satisfy the sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interests of
 patrons for which something of value is given or received.
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Statutes affected: 
Original Bill: 9A.40.100