Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2013

Bill: 113-s-1733
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2013-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Child safety and welfare
Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Crime prevention
Crime victims
Crimes against children
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Government information and archives
Human trafficking
Intergovernmental relations
Law enforcement administration and funding
Sex offenses
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2013-11-19
text: 
Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2013 - Requires each state, within three years, to have in effect legislation that: (1) treats a minor who has engaged or attempted to engage in a commercial sex act as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, (2) discourages the charging or prosecution of such an individual for a prostitution or sex trafficking offense, and (3) encourages the diversion of such individual to child protection services. Authorizes the Attorney General to withhold specified Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds from a state that fails to comply with such requirement.
 
Increases the amount a victim of peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons may recover in a civil action against the perpetrator to treble damages. Directs the Attorney General to establish a process to collect and analyze data relating to the issuance and enforcement of mandatory restitution orders with respect to such offenses.
 
 Amends the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants annually for a national communication system to assist victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons in communicating with service providers. 
 
Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to include victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons among those eligible for the Job Corps.
 
Directs the Attorney General to implement and maintain a National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking that includes: (1) integrated federal, state, local, and tribal efforts to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases; (2) case coordination within the Department of Justice (DOJ); and (3) interagency coordination regarding the prevention, investigation, and apprehension of individuals targeting and exploiting adults and children for human trafficking.
 
Amends the VTVPA to require the Attorney General's annual report on agency activities under such Act to include information on: (1) data relating to the issuance and enforcement of mandatory restitution orders with respect to peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons; and (2) the number of sex and labor trafficking investigations that were opened by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Labor, or the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center or that were reported to the United States attorneys, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit in DOJ's Civil Rights Division, and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in DOJ's Criminal Division.
 
Amends the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act to modify the definition of "tier III sex offender" to include a sex offender whose offense is: (1) punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, and (2) comparable to or more severe than sex trafficking committed against a minor or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such offense against a minor.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2013-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate