Source: http://www.childrenslegalrightsjournal.com/childrenslegalrightsjournal/volume_35_issue_1?pg=17
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 16:29:12+00:00

Document:
Prior to the passage of the Safe Harbor Act, Florida law most closely resembled a prosecution model, because prostituted children were prosecuted as juvenile delinquents.132 In 2007, Florida passed a statute that made it a felony to “recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain a person knowing that force, fraud, or coercion will be used to cause that person to engage in prostitution.”133 The statute increased the charge to first degree if the prostituted individual is fourteen years old or younger.134 Florida laws favor severe punishment for those who engage in the exploitation of children.135 The statute was helpful in that it provided a deterrent for the trafficking of children. But the statute did not provide protection for sexually-exploited children because it did not recognize these children as victims.
132 FLA. STAT. ANN. § 796.045 (West 2015).
136 FLA. STAT. ANN. § 39.001( 5)(b)( 2) (West 2015); but see Telephone Interview with Trudy Novicki, Exec. Dir., Kristi House (Oct. 19, 2012) (commenting that the Florida Statute resembles the hybrid model as written and will resemble the prosecution approach in application). Ms. Novicki is an attorney, advocate, and participated in the drafting of Florida Safe Harbor Act; see also Jorge Veitia, Support the FL Safe Harbor Act, SOL (Dec. 6, 2011) http://www.solmedia.net/2011/12/support-the-fl-safe-harbor-act/ (describing the features of the Florida Safe Harbor Act and citing Ms. Novicki as an authority in saying that the Act separates delinquency and dependency).
137 FLA. STAT. ANN. § 39.401( 2)(b).
138 Id. § 39.01( 69)(g).
139 Id. § 39.401( 2)(b).
141 S.B. 202, 2012 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Fla. 2012) (stating that the Florida Safe Harbor Act “[ i]ncreases the civil penalty for crimes related to prostitution from $500 to $5000 and provides for the increase to be paid to the department to be used to fund safe houses and short-term safe houses”).
142 FLA. STAT. ANN. § 39.01( 67)(g) (describing that children who engage in sexual performance willingly are also considered sexually exploited).
143 See H.B. 7141, 2014 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Fla. 2014).
144 See FLA. STAT. ANN. § 39.401( 2)(b) (stating only that child legal services would be responsible for providing services to exploited children, but not how).

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