Bill Text: IA SF122 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the treatment of certain incidents of human trafficking as child abuse and to mandatory reporting training to recognize and report such incidents of human trafficking, and making penalties applicable.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-25 - Subcommittee: Sinclair, Petersen, and Schultz. S.J. 131. [SF122 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SF122-Introduced.html

Senate File 122 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  PETERSEN

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the treatment of certain incidents of
  2    human trafficking as child abuse and to mandatory reporting
  3    training to recognize and report such incidents of human
  4    trafficking, and making penalties applicable.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1508XS (5) 87
    kh/rj

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code
  1  2 2017, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
  1  3    NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (12)  The acts or omissions of a
  1  4 person responsible for the care of a child which allow,
  1  5 permit,  encourage, or require the recruitment, harboring,
  1  6 transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or
  1  7 soliciting of the child for the purpose of commercial sexual
  1  8 activity or forced labor or service as defined in section
  1  9 710A.1.
  1 10    Sec. 2.  Section 232.69, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
  1 11 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  1 12    The classes of persons enumerated in this subsection shall
  1 13 make a report within twenty=four hours and as provided in
  1 14 section 232.70, of cases of child abuse. In addition, the
  1 15 classes of persons enumerated in this subsection shall make a
  1 16 report of abuse of a child who is under twelve years of age
  1 17 and may make a report of abuse of a child who is twelve years
  1 18 of age or older, which would be defined as child abuse under
  1 19 section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraph (3),
  1 20  or (5), or (12), except that the abuse resulted from the acts
  1 21 or omissions of a person other than a person responsible for
  1 22 the care of the child.
  1 23    Sec. 3.  Section 232.69, Code 2017, is amended by adding the
  1 24 following new subsection:
  1 25    NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  The department of public health, in
  1 26 cooperation with the crime victim assistance division of the
  1 27 department of justice, the Iowa law enforcement academy,
  1 28 the department of public safety, the attorney general's
  1 29 office, and any other federal, state, and local governmental
  1 30 agencies and nongovernmental or community organizations with
  1 31 expertise in human trafficking including commercial sexual
  1 32 activity or forced labor or service involving children,
  1 33 shall develop training standards on the subject of human
  1 34 trafficking involving children to include curricula on
  1 35 recognizing human trafficking victims, culturally sensitive and
  2  1 age=appropriate methods for approaching and dealing effectively
  2  2 and appropriately with trafficking victims and minors who
  2  3 are victims or who are impacted by human trafficking, and
  2  4 identifying the appropriate authorities to whom to report
  2  5 potential cases of human trafficking.  Mandatory reporter
  2  6 training required under this section shall at a minimum meet
  2  7 the standards developed under this subsection.
  2  8    Sec. 4.  Section 232.70, subsection 9, Code 2017, is amended
  2  9 to read as follows:
  2 10    9.  If a report would be determined to constitute an
  2 11 allegation of child abuse as defined under section 232.68,
  2 12 subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraph (3), or (5), or
  2 13 (12), except that the suspected abuse resulted from the acts
  2 14 or omissions of a person other than a person responsible for
  2 15 the care of the child, the department shall refer the report
  2 16 to the appropriate law enforcement agency having jurisdiction
  2 17 to investigate the allegation. The department shall refer the
  2 18 report orally as soon as practicable and in writing within
  2 19 seventy=two hours of receiving the report.
  2 20    Sec. 5.  Section 232.71B, subsection 1, paragraph a,
  2 21 subparagraph (1), Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  2 22    (1)  Upon acceptance of a report of child abuse, the
  2 23 department shall commence a child abuse assessment when the
  2 24 report alleges child abuse as defined in section 232.68,
  2 25 subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraphs (1) through (3) and
  2 26 subparagraphs (5) through (11) (12), or which alleges child
  2 27 abuse as defined in section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph "a",
  2 28 subparagraph (4), that also alleges imminent danger, death, or
  2 29 injury to a child.
  2 30    Sec. 6.  Section 235A.18, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code
  2 31 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  2 32    b.  Data sealed in accordance with this section shall be
  2 33 expunged eight years after the date the data was sealed.
  2 34 However, if the report data and the disposition data involve
  2 35 child abuse as defined in section 232.68, subsection 2,
  3  1 paragraph "a", subparagraph (3), or (5), or (12), the data
  3  2 shall not be expunged for a period of thirty years. Sealed
  3  3 data shall be made available to the department of justice upon
  3  4 request if the prosecutor's review committee is reviewing
  3  5 records or if a prosecuting attorney has filed a petition to
  3  6 commit a sexually violent predator under chapter 229A.
  3  7    Sec. 7.  Section 280.17, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
  3  8 to read as follows:
  3  9    1.  The board of directors of a school district and the
  3 10 authorities in charge of a nonpublic school shall prescribe
  3 11 procedures, in accordance with the guidelines contained in
  3 12 the model policy developed by the department of education in
  3 13 consultation with the department of human services, and adopted
  3 14 by the department of education pursuant to chapter 17A, for
  3 15 the handling of reports of child abuse, as defined in section
  3 16 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraph (1), (3), or
  3 17  (5), or (12), alleged to have been committed by an employee or
  3 18 agent of the public or nonpublic school.
  3 19                           EXPLANATION
  3 20 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  3 21 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  3 22    This bill treats certain incidents of human trafficking
  3 23 as child abuse under Code chapter 232, modifies related
  3 24 requirements for mandatory reporters of child abuse and
  3 25 mandatory reporter training, and makes penalties applicable.
  3 26    To the definition of "child abuse" or "abuse", the bill
  3 27 adds "the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the
  3 28 care of a child which allow, permit, encourage, or require the
  3 29 recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining,
  3 30 patronizing, or soliciting of the child for the purpose of
  3 31 commercial sexual activity or forced labor or service" as
  3 32 defined in Code section 710A.1.
  3 33    Under Code section 710A.1, "forced labor or services" means
  3 34 labor or services that are performed or provided by another
  3 35 person and that are obtained or maintained through causing or
  4  1 threatening to cause serious physical injury to any person,
  4  2 physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain
  4  3 another person, abusing or threatening to abuse the law or
  4  4 legal process, or knowingly destroying, concealing, removing,
  4  5 confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or
  4  6 other immigration document, or any other actual or purported
  4  7 government identification document, of another person.
  4  8 "Commercial sexual activity" means any sex act or sexually
  4  9 explicit performance for which anything of value is given,
  4 10 promised to, or received by any person and includes, but is not
  4 11 limited to, prostitution, participation in the production of
  4 12 pornography, and performance in strip clubs.
  4 13    With this change in the definition, the classes of persons
  4 14 required to make a report of child abuse must also make a
  4 15 report of suspected forced labor or services and suspected
  4 16 commercial sexual activity involving a child and complete
  4 17 training relating to the identification and reporting of such
  4 18 child abuse.
  4 19    The department of public health is directed to develop
  4 20 training standards on the subject of human trafficking
  4 21 involving children to include curricula on recognizing
  4 22 human trafficking victims, culturally sensitive and
  4 23 age=appropriate methods for approaching and dealing effectively
  4 24 and appropriately with trafficking victims and minors who
  4 25 are victims or who are impacted by human trafficking, and
  4 26 identifying the appropriate authorities to whom to report
  4 27 potential cases of human trafficking.  The standards must be
  4 28 developed in cooperation with the crime victim assistance
  4 29 division of the department of justice, the Iowa law enforcement
  4 30 academy, the department of public safety, the attorney
  4 31 general's office, and any other federal, state, and local
  4 32 governmental agencies and nongovernmental or community
  4 33 organizations with expertise in human trafficking.
  4 34    The bill makes conforming changes, including provisions
  4 35 relating to commencing child abuse assessments, expunging data
  5  1 under certain conditions, and the procedures school districts
  5  2 and accredited nonpublic schools must use in handling child
  5  3 abuse reports.
  5  4    The civil and criminal sanctions of Code section 232.75
  5  5 apply to a person who fails to report a suspected case of
  5  6 child abuse or knowingly reports false information.  If the
  5  7 department of human services issues a finding that the alleged
  5  8 child abuse meets the definition of child abuse, the child
  5  9 abuse central registry provisions of Code chapters 232 and 235A
  5 10 apply.
       LSB 1508XS (5) 87
       kh/rj
feedback