18 U.S.C. § 1591 — Sex trafficking of children or by force,

Page 412 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1590 (1) by means of force, threats of force, phys- ical restraint, or threats of physical restraint to that person or another person; (2) by means of serious harm or threats of se- rious harm to that person or another person; (3) by means of the abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process; or (4) by means of any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if that person did not perform such labor or serv- ices, that person or another person would suf- fer serious harm or physical restraint, shall be punished as provided under subsection (d). (b) Whoever knowingly benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participa- tion in a venture which has engaged in the pro- viding or obtaining of labor or services by any of the means described in subsection (a), knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the ven- ture has engaged in the providing or obtaining of labor or services by any of such means, shall be punished as provided in subsection (d). (c) In this section: (1) The term ‘‘abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process’’ means the use or threat- ened use of a law or legal process, whether ad- ministrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some ac- tion or refrain from taking some action. (2) The term ‘‘serious harm’’ means any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, in- cluding psychological, financial, or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same back- ground and in the same circumstances to per- form or to continue performing labor or serv- ices in order to avoid incurring that harm. (d) Whoever violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from a violation of this section, or if the violation includes kid- naping, an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both. (Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1486; amended Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 222(b)(3), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5068.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2008—Pub. L. 110–457 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section provided penalties for know- ingly providing or obtaining forced labor. § 1590. Trafficking with respect to peonage, slav- ery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor (a) Whoever knowingly recruits, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means, any person for labor or services in violation of this chapter shall be fined under this title or im- prisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from the violation of this section, or if the violation includes kidnapping or an at- tempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or the attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both. (b) Whoever obstructs, attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the en- forcement of this section, shall be subject to the penalties under subsection (a). (Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1487; amended Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 222(b)(4), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5069.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2008—Pub. L. 110–457 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b). § 1591. Sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion (a) Whoever knowingly— (1) in or affecting interstate or foreign com- merce, or within the special maritime and ter- ritorial jurisdiction of the United States, re- cruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits by any means a person; or (2) benefits, financially or by receiving any- thing of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act described in viola- tion of paragraph (1), knowing, or, except where the act constituting the violation of paragraph (1) is advertising, in reckless disregard of the fact, that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion described in subsection (e)(2), or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of 18 years and will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b). (b) The punishment for an offense under sub- section (a) is— (1) if the offense was effected by means of force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion de- scribed in subsection (e)(2), or by any com- bination of such means, or if the person re- cruited, enticed, harbored, transported, pro- vided, obtained, advertised, patronized, or so- licited had not attained the age of 14 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under this title and imprisonment for any term of years not less than 15 or for life; or (2) if the offense was not so effected, and the person recruited, enticed, harbored, trans- ported, provided, obtained, advertised, patron- ized, or solicited had attained the age of 14 years but had not attained the age of 18 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under this title and imprisonment for not less than 10 years or for life. (c) In a prosecution under subsection (a)(1) in which the defendant had a reasonable oppor- tunity to observe the person so recruited, en- ticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, maintained, patronized, or solicited, the Govern- ment need not prove that the defendant knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact, that the per- son had not attained the age of 18 years. (d) Whoever obstructs, attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the en- Page 413 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1591 forcement of this section, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for a term not to exceed 25 years, or both. (e) In this section: (1) The term ‘‘abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process’’ means the use or threat- ened use of a law or legal process, whether ad- ministrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some ac- tion or refrain from taking some action. (2) The term ‘‘coercion’’ means— (A) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; (B) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or (C) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal process. (3) The term ‘‘commercial sex act’’ means any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. (4) The term ‘‘participation in a venture’’ means knowingly assisting, supporting, or fa- cilitating a violation of subsection (a)(1). (5) The term ‘‘serious harm’’ means any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, in- cluding psychological, financial, or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same back- ground and in the same circumstances to per- form or to continue performing commercial sexual activity in order to avoid incurring that harm. (6) The term ‘‘venture’’ means any group of two or more individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal entity. (Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1487; amended Pub. L. 108–21, title I, § 103(a)(3), Apr. 30, 2003, 117 Stat. 653; Pub. L. 108–193, § 5(a), Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2879; Pub. L. 109–248, title II, § 208, July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 615; Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 222(b)(5), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5069; Pub. L. 114–22, title I, §§ 108(a), 118(b), May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 238, 247; Pub. L. 115–164, § 5, Apr. 11, 2018, 132 Stat. 1255; Pub. L. 115–392, § 11(1)(C), Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5255.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–392 substituted ‘‘25 years’’ for ‘‘20 years’’. Subsec. (e)(4) to (6). Pub. L. 115–164 added par. (4) and redesignated former pars. (4) and (5) as (5) and (6), re- spectively. 2015—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–22, § 118(b)(2), inserted ‘‘, except where the act constituting the violation of paragraph (1) is advertising,’’ after ‘‘knowing, or’’ in concluding provisions. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 114–22, § 118(b)(1), inserted ‘‘ad- vertises,’’ after ‘‘obtains,’’. Pub. L. 114–22, § 108(a)(1), substituted ‘‘maintains, pa- tronizes, or solicits’’ for ‘‘or maintains’’. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 114–22, § 118(b)(3)(A), inserted ‘‘advertised,’’ after ‘‘obtained,’’. Pub. L. 114–22, § 108(a)(2)(A), substituted ‘‘obtained, patronized, or solicited’’ for ‘‘or obtained’’. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 114–22, § 118(b)(3)(B), inserted ‘‘advertised,’’ after ‘‘obtained,’’. Pub. L. 114–22, § 108(a)(2)(B), substituted ‘‘obtained, patronized, or solicited’’ for ‘‘or obtained’’. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–22, § 108(a)(3), substituted ‘‘, maintained, patronized, or solicited’’ for ‘‘or main- tained’’ and ‘‘knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact, that the person’’ for ‘‘knew that the person’’. 2008—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110–457, § 222(b)(5)(A)(ii), sub- stituted ‘‘, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion de- scribed in subsection (e)(2), or any combination of such means’’ for ‘‘that force, fraud, or coercion described in subsection (c)(2)’’ in concluding provisions. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 110–457, § 222(b)(5)(A)(i), sub- stituted ‘‘obtains, or maintains’’ for ‘‘or obtains’’. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 110–457, § 222(b)(5)(C), sub- stituted ‘‘means of force, threats of force, fraud, or co- ercion described in subsection (e)(2), or by any com- bination of such means,’’ for ‘‘force, fraud, or coer- cion’’. Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 110–457, § 222(b)(5)(D), added subsecs. (c) and (d). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (e). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 110–457, § 222(b)(5)(B), (E), redesig- nated subsec. (c) as (e), added pars. (1) and (4), and re- designated former pars. (1) and (3) as (3) and (5), respec- tively. 2006—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 109–248, § 208(1), sub- stituted ‘‘and imprisonment for any term of years not less than 15 or for life’’ for ‘‘or imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both’’. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 109–248, § 208(2)(B), which di- rected amendment of subsec. (b)(2) by striking out ‘‘, or both’’, could not be executed because that language did not appear in text subsequent to amendment by Pub. L. 109–248, § 208(2)(A). See below. Pub. L. 109–248, § 208(2)(A), substituted ‘‘and imprison- ment for not less than 10 years or for life’’ for ‘‘or im- prisonment for not more than 40 years, or both’’. 2003—Pub. L. 108–193, § 5(a)(1), inserted comma after ‘‘fraud’’ in section catchline. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–193, § 5(a)(2), substituted ‘‘in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States’’ for ‘‘in or affecting interstate com- merce’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 108–193, § 5(a)(3), substituted ‘‘the person recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, pro- vided, or obtained’’ for ‘‘the person transported’’ in pars. (1) and (2). Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 108–21 substituted ‘‘40’’ for ‘‘20’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries PURPOSE Pub. L. 114–22, title I, § 108(c), May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 239, provided that: ‘‘The purpose of the amendments made by this section [amending this section and sec- tion 7102 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse] is to clarify the range of conduct punished as sex traf- ficking.’’ SENSE OF CONGRESS Pub. L. 114–22, title I, § 109, May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 239, provided that: ‘‘It is the sense of Congress that— ‘‘(1) section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, de- fines a sex trafficker as a person who ‘know- ingly. . .recruits, entices, harbors, transports, pro- vides, obtains, or maintains by any means a per- son. . .knowing, or in reckless disregard of the fact, that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coer- cion. . .or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of 18 years and will be caused to engage in a commer- cial sex act’; ‘‘(2) while use of the word ‘obtains’ in section 1591 [of title 18], United States Code, has been interpreted, Page 414 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1592 prior to the date of enactment of this Act [May 29, 2015], to encompass those who purchase illicit sexual acts from trafficking victims, some confusion per- sists; ‘‘(3) in United States vs. Jungers, 702 F.3d 1066 (8th Cir. 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, applied to persons who purchase illicit sexual acts with trafficking victims after the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota erroneously granted motions to acquit these buyers in two separate cases; and ‘‘(4) section 108 of this title [title I of Pub. L. 114–22] amends section 1591 of title 18, United States Code, to add the words ‘solicits or patronizes’ to the sex traf- ficking statute making absolutely clear for judges, juries, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials that criminals who purchase sexual acts from human trafficking victims may be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted as sex trafficking offenders when this is merited by the facts of a particular case.’’ § 1592. Unlawful conduct with respect to docu- ments in furtherance of trafficking, peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor (a) Whoever knowingly destroys, conceals, re- moves, confiscates, or possesses any actual or purported passport or other immigration docu- ment, or any other actual or purported govern- ment identification document, of another per- son— (1) in the course of a violation of section 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1591, or 1594(a); (2) with intent to violate section 1581, 1583, 1584, 1589, 1590, or 1591; or (3) to prevent or restrict or to attempt to prevent or restrict, without lawful authority, the person’s liberty to move or travel, in order to maintain the labor or services of that per- son, when the person is or has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, as de- fined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. (b) Subsection (a) does not apply to the con- duct of a person who is or has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, as de- fined in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, if that conduct is caused by, or incident to, that trafficking. (c) Whoever obstructs, attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the en- forcement of this section, shall be subject to the penalties described in subsection (a). (Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1488; amended Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 222(b)(6), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5070.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, referred to in subsecs. (a)(3) and (b), is classified to section 7102 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Inter- course. AMENDMENTS 2008—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–457 added subsec. (c). § 1593. Mandatory restitution (a) Notwithstanding section 3663 or 3663A, and in addition to any other civil or criminal pen- alties authorized by law, the court shall order restitution for any offense under this chapter. (b)(1) The order of restitution under this sec- tion shall direct the defendant to pay the victim (through the appropriate court mechanism) the full amount of the victim’s losses, as determined by the court under paragraph (3) of this sub- section. (2) An order of restitution under this section shall be issued and enforced in accordance with section 3664 in the same manner as an order under section 3663A. (3) As used in this subsection, the term ‘‘full amount of the victim’s losses’’ has the same meaning as provided in section 2259(c)(2) and shall in addition include the greater of the gross income or value to the defendant of the victim’s services or labor or the value of the victim’s labor as guaranteed under the minimum wage and overtime guarantees of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). (4) The forfeiture of property under this sub- section shall be governed by the provisions of section 413 (other than subsection (d) of such section) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853). (c) As used in this section, the term ‘‘victim’’ means the individual harmed as a result of a crime under this chapter, including, in the case of a victim who is under 18 years of age, incom- petent, incapacitated, or deceased, the legal guardian of the victim or a representative of the victim’s estate, or another family member, or any other person appointed as suitable by the court, but in no event shall the defendant be named such representative or guardian. (Added Pub. L. 106–386, div. A, § 112(a)(2), Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1488; amended Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 221(1), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5067; Pub. L. 115–299, § 3(c), Dec. 7, 2018, 132 Stat. 4385.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Fair Labor Standards Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), probably means the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, act June 25, 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, which is classified generally to chapter 8 (§ 201 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 201 of Title 29 and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 115–299 substituted ‘‘sec- tion 2259(c)(2)’’ for ‘‘section 2259(b)(3)’’. 2008—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 110–457 added par. (4). § 1593A. Benefitting financially from peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons Whoever knowingly benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in any act in violation of this chapter, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the venture has en- gaged in such violation, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned in the same manner as a completed violation of such section. (Added Pub. L. 110–457, title II, § 222(d)(1), Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5070; amended Pub. L. 115–393, title III, § 303(c), Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5273.)