2022 Hawaii Revised Statutes
Title 37. Hawaii Penal Code
712. Offenses Against Public Health and Morals
712-1209.5 Habitual commercial sexual exploitation.
§712-1209.5 Habitual commercial sexual exploitation. (1) A person commits the offense of habitual commercial sexual exploitation if the person is a habitual commercial sexual exploitation offender and provides, agrees to provide, or offers to provide a fee or anything of value to another person to engage in sexual conduct.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person has the status of a "habitual commercial sexual exploitation offender" if the person, at the time of the conduct for which the person is charged, had two or more convictions within ten years of the instant offense for:
(a) Commercial sexual exploitation, in violation of section 712-1200.5;
(b) Street prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation, in violation of section 712-1207(1)(b) or (2)(b);
(c) Habitual commercial sexual exploitation, in violation of this section;
(d) An offense of this jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction that is comparable to one of the offenses in paragraph (a), (b), or (c); or
(e) Any combination of the offenses in paragraph (a), (b), (c), or (d).
A conviction for purposes of this section is a judgment on the verdict or a finding of guilt, or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. The convictions shall have occurred on separate dates and be for separate incidents on separate dates. At the time of the instant offense, the conviction shall not have been expunged by pardon, reversed, or set aside.
(3) Habitual commercial sexual exploitation is a class C felony. L 2008, c 192, § §1, 3; am L 2010, c 95, §1; am L 2011, c 145, § §9, 10; am L 2021, c 68, §10
COMMENTARY ON §712-1209.5
Act 145, Session Laws 2011, permanently established §712-1209.5, the offense of habitual solicitation of prostitution, by deleting the sunset date of Act 192, Session Laws 2009 [as amended by Act 95, Session Laws 2010]. Act 145 also amended the habitual solicitation of prostitution offense to apply to those who habitually pay, agree to pay, or offer to pay a fee to another person to engage in sexual conduct and raised the offense to a class C felony. Conference Committee Report No. 76, Senate Standing Committee Report No. 1137.
Act 68, Session Laws 2021, amended this section to: (1) rename the offense to reference commercial sexual exploitation; (2) provide that the compensation for engaging in sexual conduct includes anything of value; and (3) provide that prior convictions that qualify a person for the status of a habitual offender include those for comparable offenses within Hawaii's jurisdiction. The legislature found that sex trafficking is an ever-evolving criminal enterprise in which traffickers and exploiters find various means to sexually exploit the most vulnerable in the community. The legislature further found that protecting victims from sexual exploitation and holding offenders accountable is difficult given the disparity in power between the victims and perpetrators, and that amending Hawaii's sex trafficking laws to better reflect the current reality and challenges would improve outcomes for trafficking victims and survivors. Senate Standing Committee Report No. 1654, Conference Committee Report No. 45.
