House Bill 219, which would impose a 30-day mandatory minimum
sentence for those convicted of soliciting victims of human trafficking,
passed the House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday
State Representative Toby Overdorf today announced that House Bill 219 passed out of the House Criminal Justice Committee. Overdorf is the primary sponsor of the legislation that would require a 30-day mandatory minimum term of incarceration for solicitation of prostitution involving victims of human trafficking. Florida has the third highest number of human trafficking cases in the country, trailing only California and New York.
“I’m very pleased to see this important bill move forward,” said Overdorf. “Human beings are not commodities to be bought and sold, and Florida must make it crystal-clear that we will not look the other way when evildoers use vulnerable people to line their own pockets. Quite simply, imposing tougher penalties will reduce demand for services provided by victims of human trafficking and will go a long way toward eradicating this scourge in our state.”
The bill now heads to the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee. Senator Gayle Harrell has sponsored a similar bill, which has also passed out of its first committee in that chamber.
