Judiciary Committee approves harsher penalties for human trafficking

Senator Byron Pelton’s bill to enhance the criminal penalties for human trafficking won a 4-1 vote last week from the state Senate Judiciary Committee and now heads to the full Senate for debate.

The measure, Senate Bill 35, makes human trafficking for involuntary servitude and human trafficking for sexual servitude crimes of violence, subject to enhanced sentencing guidelines and increases the statute of limitations for prosecution of these offenses.

This would make servitude a crime of violence and extend the statute of limitations from five years to 20 years, Pelton told the judiciary commi...