S162 - Human Trafficking Restorative Justice. (SL 2018-75)

Overview: S.L. 2018-75 enacts several provisions to assist victims of human trafficking as follows:

• Provides an affirmative defense to prosecution for human trafficking for persons who are victims and were coerced or deceived into committing the offense.
• Provides confidentiality for victims of human trafficking and their immediate family members.
• Expands the restitution provision to cover additional needs.
• Authorizes restitution to be paid to the clerk of court for an unavailable victim and held for two years, and to escheat to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund if not claimed within that time.
• Amends the definition of abused juvenile to include all human trafficking victims under 18.
• Amends the rules of evidence related to admission of evidence of sexual behavior to apply to charges of sexual servitude.
• Adds three new ex officio members to the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission.
• Directs the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission to study sentencing and post-conviction relief for human trafficking offenses.

This act has varying effective dates. Please see the full summary for more detail.