Re: federal sex trafficking and states with lower ages of consent
let's also look at sex tourism laws.. going someplace
with specific intent ot have underage sex
--- Mitch Webber mwebber@law.harvard.edu wrote:
Mr. Epstein,
I'm sorry I was a little confused aboutwhat you were asking on
the phone. I se what you were asking now. The
question is: what would
happen if one were to transport a minor for sex --
or transport oneself
with the intent to have sex with a minor -- into a
state in which the age
of consent is below eighteen (assuming the minor is
above the age of
consent in the given state)?And your intuition was right. The answeris that there is no
violation of law.The plain language of the federal sextrafficking statute
specifies that a person has not violated the federal
law unless he has
committed another chargeable offense, presumably
under state law:"A person who knowingly transports an individual who
has not attained the
age of 18 years in interstate or foreign commerce,
or in any commonwealth,
territory or possession of the United States, with
intent that the
individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual
activity for which any
person can be charged with a criminal offense, shall
be fined under this
title and imprisoned not less than 5 years and not
more than 30 years."18 U.S.C. sec. 2423(a) (penalties recently enhanced
under the Adam Walsh
Child Safety and Protection Act).Therefore, your example is a good one. Saya person calls from
New York to Alabama, where the age of consent is 16
(Code of Ala. §
13A-6-62), and arranges for a rendezvous with a 17
year-old. He then
travels to Alabama and sleeps with the girl. First,
he would not be
subject to federal sex trafficking prosecution for
the phone call, because
sex trafficking requires travel, either by the
perpetrator or
victim. Second and more importantly, he not be
subject to sex trafficking
prosecution for the travel because he did not engage
in "any sexual
activity for which any person can be charged with a
criminal offense" in
Alabama. An element of the offense is lacking.Remember, though, that sex trafficking isinapplicable in your
case. As I wrote in my August 11 memo, "In
Epstein's case, (1) he never
transported any girl across state lines, and (2) he
never traveled with the
intent of soliciting prostitution from underage
girls. (Because section
2423(b) is essentially an 'attempt' statute, it
requires specific intent of
wrongdoing. See, e.g., United States v. Sims, 428
F.3d 945, 959-60 (10th
Cir. 2005).)Let me know if there's anything else I canlook into.
Sincerely,
Mitch
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