§46.3. Trafficking of children for sexual purposes

            A. It shall be unlawful:

            (1) For any person to knowingly recruit, harbor, transport, provide, sell, receive, isolate, entice, obtain, or maintain the use of a child for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity. For the purposes of this Section, "child" means a person under the age of eighteen years.

            (2) For any person to knowingly benefit from activity prohibited by the provisions of this Section.

            (3) For any parent, legal guardian, or person having custody of a person under the age of eighteen years to knowingly permit or consent to such minor entering into any activity prohibited by the provisions of this Section.

            (4) For any person to knowingly facilitate any of the activities prohibited by the provisions of this Section by any means, including but not limited to helping, aiding, abetting, or conspiring, regardless of whether a thing of value has been promised to or received by the person.

            (5) For any person to knowingly advertise any of the activities prohibited by this Section.

            (6) For any person to knowingly sell or offer to sell travel services that include or facilitate any of the activities prohibited by this Section.

            (7) For any person to knowingly solicit or purchase a person under the age of eighteen years for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity.

            B. For purposes of this Section, "commercial sexual activity" means any sexual or lewd or lascivious act performed or conducted when anything of value has been given, promised, or received by any person, directly or indirectly, including the production or transmission of child sexual abuse materials or pornography.

            C.(1) Consent of the minor shall not be a defense to a prosecution pursuant to the provisions of this Section.

            (2) Lack of knowledge of the victim's age shall not be a defense to a prosecution pursuant to the provisions of this Section.

            (3) It shall not be a defense to prosecution for a violation of this Section that the person being recruited, harbored, transported, provided, sold, purchased, received, isolated, enticed, obtained, or maintained is actually a law enforcement officer or peace officer acting within the official scope of his duties.

            D.(1) Whoever violates the provisions of Paragraph (A)(1), (2), (4), (5), or (6) of this Section shall be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence and fined not more than seventy-five thousand dollars.

            (2) Whoever violates the provisions of Paragraph (A)(3) or (7) of this Section shall be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars, imprisoned at hard labor for not less than fifteen nor more than fifty years, or both, with at least five years being served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Whoever violates the provisions of Paragraph (A)(3) of this Section when the victim is under the age of fourteen years shall be fined not more than seventy-five thousand dollars and imprisoned at hard labor for not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty years, with at least ten years being served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

            E.(1) No victim of trafficking as provided by the provisions of this Section shall be prosecuted for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

            (2) Any child who is engaged in prostitution or prostitution-related offenses is presumed to be a victim of human trafficking. A child victim of trafficking as provided by the provisions of this Section is exempt from criminal responsibility and delinquency proceedings for prostitution-related offenses.

            (3) Any child determined to be a victim pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection is eligible for specialized services for sexually exploited children as provided in R.S. 46:2161.

            F. The provisions of Chapter 1 of Title V of the Children's Code regarding the multidisciplinary team approach applicable to children who have been abused or neglected, to the extent practical, shall apply to the children who are victims of the provisions of this Section.

            G. If any Subsection, Paragraph, Subparagraph, Item, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Section is for any reason held to be invalid, unlawful, or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Section.

            Acts 2009, No. 375, §1; Acts 2010, No. 763, §1; Acts 2011, No. 64, §1; Acts 2012, No. 446, §1; Acts 2014, No. 564, §1; Acts 2017, No. 180, §1, eff. June 12, 2017; Acts 2020, No. 352, §2; Acts 2024, No. 570, §1; Acts 2024, No. 586, §1; Acts 2025, No. 230, §1; Acts 2026, No. 205, §1; Acts 2026, No. 637, §1.