Montana Code Annotated 2021

TITLE 45. CRIMES

CHAPTER 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON

Part 7. Human Trafficking

Definitions

45-5-701. Definitions. As used in this part, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Adult" means a person 18 years of age or older.

(2) "Coercion" means:

(a) the use or threat of force against, abduction of, serious harm to, or physical restraint of a person;

(b) the use of a plan, pattern, or statement with intent to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act will result in the use of force against, abduction of, serious harm to, or physical restraint of a person;

(c) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process;

(d) controlling or threatening to control a person's access to any substance defined as a dangerous drug pursuant to Title 50, chapter 32, parts 1 and 2;

(e) the actual or threatened destruction or taking of a person's identification document or other property;

(f) the use of debt bondage;

(g) the use of a person's physical or mental impairment when the impairment has a substantial adverse effect on the person's cognitive or volitional function; or

(h) the commission of civil or criminal fraud.

(3) "Commercial sexual activity" means sexual activity for which anything of value is given to, promised to, or received by a person.

(4) "Debt bondage" means inducing a person to provide:

(a) commercial sexual activity in payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt; or

(b) labor or services in payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt if:

(i) the reasonable value of the labor or services is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt; or

(ii) the length of the labor or services is not limited and the nature of the labor or services is not defined.

(5) "Human trafficking" means the commission of an offense under 45-5-702, 45-5-703, 45-5-704, or 45-5-705.

(6) "Identification document" means a passport, driver's license, immigration document, travel document, or other government-issued identification document, including a document issued by a foreign government.

(7) "Labor or services" means activity having economic value.

(8) "Serious harm" means physical or nonphysical harm, including psychological, economic, or reputational harm to a person that would compel a reasonable person of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or continue to perform labor or services or sexual activity to avoid incurring the harm.

(9) "Sexual activity" means any sex act or simulated sex act intended to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. The term includes a sexually explicit performance.

(10) "Sexually explicit performance" means a live, public, private, photographed, recorded, or videotaped act or simulated act intended to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.

History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 285, L. 2015.