Andrew Powell
Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin has filed a bill (SB 1804) that would impose stricter penalties for crimes involving sex trafficking, especially those that involve children or individuals with mental incapacities.
The measure continues lawmakers’ efforts to fight back against these crimes. The bill states that human trafficking is a “form of modern-day slavery,” violating all “standards of decency” in society and adds that these crimes “destroy the innocence of young children.”
Severe penalties would be established for offenders, which can include capital punishment or life in prison for trafficking children under the age of 12 or individuals with mental incapacities. The range of penalties are dependent on the severity of the crime.
Florida is currently ranked seventh in the nation for human trafficking, with 738 cases reported in 2024 according to World Population Review. For states with the largest populations, Florida comes in third after California and Texas.
However, given the population differences, Florida is still well below the rate of human trafficking in Mississippi, which has the highest rate in the nation of 6.31 per 100,000 people, and Nevada, which has a rate of 5.99 per 100,000 people. That’s compared with Florida’s rate of 3.4 human trafficking instances per 100,000 people.
Under Martin’s bill, a person who knowingly engages in human trafficking by use of physical force for sexual violence upon a child under 12 or a person who is mentally defective would be committing a capital felony, which can come with a sentence of death. Persons under the age of 18 who engage in human trafficking could face life imprisonment.
Certain procedures would need to be followed to determine a sentence of death or life imprisonment. If a prosecutor does decide to seek the death penalty, notice would be required to be given to the defendant, and the notice would need to be filed with the court within 45 days after arraignment.
The notice would need to include a list of aggravating factors that the state intends to prove and has reason to believe it would be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
The bill lists several aggravating factors, such as the offense being committed by an individual previously convicted of a felony under human trafficking laws who is currently serving a sentence or on probation; the offender having prior convictions for a capital or violent felony; or the offender being a registered sexual predator or someone previously designated as such.
Additional aggravating factors include the offender knowingly creating a significant risk of death to others; using a firearm during the offense; committing a crime that was particularly heinous or cruel; targeting a victim who was especially vulnerable due to age, disability or the offender’s familial or custodial authority over them; inflicting serious bodily harm; or violating an injunction or protection order while carrying out the crime.
For offenders who are facing a jury trial, at least two aggravating factors must be unanimously determined to exist by the jury before a death sentence can be handed down.
If a defendant waives his or her right to a sentencing proceeding by a jury, the court would be required to then consider all aggravating and mitigating factors of the case and would be able to impose either a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or a death sentence.
Death penalty sentences that are imposed on an offender would be required to be reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if the sentence is constitutional.
If passed, the bill would take effect Oct. 1.
