2009 Missouri Revised Statutes
Title XXXVIII CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT; PEACE OFFICERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS
Chapter 566 Sexual Offenses
566.213. Sexual trafficking of a child under age twelve--affirmative defense not allowed, when--penalty.

566.213. 1. A person commits the crime of sexual trafficking of a child under the age of twelve if the individual knowingly:

(1) Recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means a person under the age of twelve to participate in a commercial sex act or benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in such activities; or

(2) Causes a person under the age of twelve to engage in a commercial sex act.

2. It shall not be an affirmative defense that the defendant believed that the person was twelve years of age or older.

3. Sexual trafficking of a child less than twelve years of age shall be a felony for which the authorized term of imprisonment is life imprisonment without eligibility for probation or parole until the defendant has served not less than twenty-five years of such sentence. Subsection 4 of section 558.019, RSMo, shall not apply to the sentence of a person who has pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of sexual trafficking of a child less than twelve years of age, and "life imprisonment" shall mean imprisonment for the duration of a person's natural life for the purposes of this section.

(L. 2006 H.B. 1698, et al.)

Effective 6-05-06