Sex Trafficking

Las Vegas Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer Defines Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking is illegal on both the federal and state level in Nevada. If you are convicted of sex trafficking, you can expect to face very serious penalties that could result in a lengthy prison term. Depending upon your conduct, you could be looking at the possibility of life imprisonment or at the possibility of decades of imprisonment after which you will be forced to register as a sex offender.

Because of the severity with which sex crimes charges are treated, it is imperative that you make fully informed choices as you fight against serious charges. You need to ensure you are doing everything possible to avoid a conviction or to reduce the penalties that you could face, which means you need to get the right legal help right away.

You need a Vegas criminal attorney who understands how to handle sex crimes cases and who has extensive legal experience aggressively defending clients accused of serious charges. LV Criminal Defense can help. We have provided representation to defendants facing both state and federal charges for sex trafficking and other human trafficking crimes and we can put our knowledge of the law to work on your case.

To find out more about how our firm can help you to fight sex crimes charges, give us a call today. A compassionate and knowledgeable member of our legal team will work with you to develop and implement the best legal strategy aimed at avoiding or limiting consequences when faced with life-changing charges.

Nevada Laws on Sex Trafficking

The Nevada statute that prohibits sex crimes is found in Nevada Revised Statue section 201.300. According to the relevant law, you could be found guilty of a category C felony if you induce an adult to unlawfully become a prostitute, to continue to engage in prostitution, or to enter any place in Nevada where prostitution is permitted, practiced, or encouraged.

This offense doesn’t apply to a prostitute’s customer, but it applies in other circumstances where adults are encouraged or induced, without the threat of force, to engage in prostitution.

The same statute also indicates that there are a number of situations in which a defendant could be found guilty of sex trafficking. A defendant could be convicted of sex trafficking if the defendant:

• Induces, causes, recruits, transports, harbors, obtains, or maintains a child to engage in prostitution or to enter a place where prostitution is practiced or permitted or encouraged.
• Induces, recruits, harbors, provides, obtains, or maintains a person with knowledge of the fact threats, force, violence, fraud, intimidation, duress, or coercion will cause that person to engage in prostitution or to enter a place where prostitution is practiced, permitted or encouraged.
• Induces, recruits, harbors, provides, obtains, or maintains a person with reckless disregard for the fact that threats, force, violence, fraud, intimidation, duress, or coercion will cause that person to engage in prostitution or enter a place of prostitution.
• Uses threats, violence, force, intimidation, fraud, duress, conversion, abuse of position, or any scheme to harbor, induce, cause, compel, or procure a person to engage in prostitution or to enter a place where prostitution is practiced or encouraged.
• Takes another person to compel the person by use of force, threat, violence, or duress, to marry anyone.

If the victim who is trafficked is an adult, the alleged trafficker can be charged with a category B felony and can face a minimum of three years imprisonment and a maximum of ten years imprisonment as well as a fine up to $10,000.

If the victim of the trafficking is a child under the age of 14 at the time of the trafficking offense, the crime is a category A felony and a defendant can be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after a minimum 15 years have been served. A defendant can also be fined $20,000 upon conviction.

If the victim of the trafficking is aged 14 to 16, the offense is also a category A felony but the penalty includes life in prison with a chance for parole after 10 years along with a maximum $10,000 fine. If the child is between 16 and 18, the crime is still a category A felony and the sentence is still life imprisonment, but eligibility for parole begins after five years. The maximum fine is still $10,000.

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The court cannot grant probation or a suspended sentence if a defendant has been convicted under this statute of sex trafficking a child, and the consent of the victim to an act of prostitution isn’t considered a defense. It’s also not a defense if a defendant claims he did not know the age of a sex trafficking victim.

Federal Laws on Sex Trafficking

In addition to the laws prohibiting sex trafficking in the state of Nevada, there are also federal laws that strictly prohibit sex trafficking and human trafficking. If you end up being charged with a federal offense, the penalties can be much harsher.

Not all Nevada federal criminal defense attorneys have the knowledge or ability to help defendants who have been charged with federal offenses, but LV Criminal Defense can offer the necessary assistance to fight charges.

Sex and Human Trafficking Organizations in Las Vegas, Nevada

Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence
3275 E. Warm Springs Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89120
(775) 828-1115

Nevada Attorney General – Human Trafficking
555 E. Washington Avenue, Suite 3900
Las Vegas, NV 89101
702-486-3420

National Sex Trafficking Hotline – Nevada