No person may knowingly recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, receive, purchase, advertise, maintain, solicit, or obtain, by any means, another person knowing that force, fraud, or coercion will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, forced labor, or involuntary servitude. No person may benefit financially, or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture that has engaged in acts set forth in this section, or knowingly or in reckless disregard of the fact that the venture has engaged in acts set forth in this section. Any violation of this section constitutes the crime of human trafficking. If the victim is under eighteen years of age, the crime of human trafficking need not involve force, fraud, or coercion. For purposes of this section and §§ 22-49-2 and 22-49-3, the term "coercion" may include:

1. (1) Threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;
2. (2) The use of a plan, statement, or pattern of behavior, with the intent of causing a person to believe that failure to perform an act will result in serious harm to, or the use of physical force or violence against, the person, or will result in the restraint, isolation, confinement, or abduction of any person;
3. (3) Inducing a person to engage in a commercial sex act, forced labor, or involuntary servitude as payment toward, or in satisfaction of, a real or purported debt;
4. (4) The use of a person's physical or mental impairment, if that impairment has a substantial adverse effect on the person's cognitive or volitional function; or
5. (5) The abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law is not designed, to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking some action.

Source: SL 2011, ch 120 , § 1; SL 2016, ch 129 , § 1; SL 2017, ch 99 , § 1; SL 2019, ch 111 , § 1; SL 2020, ch 89 , § 1; SL 2025, ch 99 , § 1.