On April 13, Maine enacted H.P. 1457 – L.D. 2168: An Act to Increase Accountability for Persons Engaged in Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking and to Support Victims (the “Sex Buyer Accountability Act”). The Act amends Maine’s Victims’ Compensation Fund laws—specifically MRSA §§ 3360, 3360-C, and 3360-I—by implementing and increasing fines for sex buyers and traffickers while ensuring victims of sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation who engaged in forced criminality remain eligible to receive compensation.
The Sex Buyer Accountability Act adds to Maine’s Equality Model legislation in two important ways.
First, the Sex Buyer Accountability Act acknowledges that trafficking victims who engage in forced criminality tied to their sexual exploitation should not be denied relief due to crimes they were compelled to commit, and that they are nonetheless victims deserving of compensation. The Act creates an exception for trafficking victims to MRSA § 3360-C(2), which prohibits compensation from being paid to any person who violated a criminal law that caused or contributed to the injury or death for which compensation is sought. Now, as amended by the Act, victims of sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation are not barred from receiving compensation if their violation of criminal law was the direct result of their trafficking or sexual exploitation.
Second, the Sex Buyer Accountability Act holds sex buyers and traffickers accountable for their crimes while simultaneously compensating victims for the harm they experienced as a result of their commercial sexual exploitation. The Act imposes a $1,000 fine on any person convicted, for the first time, of soliciting a child for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as a $2,000 fine for repeat offenders. The Act also increases penalties for commercial sexual exploitation of a minor or person with a mental disability, raising the fine from $1,000 to $3,000 for the first conviction and from $2,000 to $6,000 for subsequent convictions.
The Sex Buyer Accountability Act is the third Equality Model bill to be enacted in Maine. In July 2023, Maine made history by becoming the first state in the country to adopt the Equality Model through the enactment of two separate bills. The first bill, An Act to Reduce Commercial Sexual Exploitation, addressed commercial sexual exploitation substantively by repealing the crime of engaging in prostitution and increasing penalties for sex buyers. The second bill, An Act to Provide Remedies for Survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation, addressed commercial sexual exploitation procedurally by providing an avenue for the sealing of prostitution convictions.
The Equality Model is made up of four key tenets: (1) decriminalization of people in prostitution, (2) criminalization of sex buyers and facilitators, (3) public education campaigns on the harms of prostitution, and (4) funded, comprehensive exit services for victims of commercial sexual exploitation. While Maine’s existing Equality Model legislation was groundbreaking, some gaps remained in the punishment of sex buyers and traffickers as well as the funded services for victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The Sex Buyer Accountability Act fills those gaps by reforming the legislation governing Maine’s Victims’ Compensation Fund to adequately account for the common yet complex issue of forced criminality among trafficking survivors, the central role played by sex buyers in perpetuating the sex trade, and the severity of the crime of commercial sexual exploitation of a minor or person with a mental disability.
The Sex Buyer Accountability Act is the first of Maine’s Equality Model legislation to be enacted in the absence of Lois Galgay Reckitt. Representative Galgay Reckitt served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives until her death in 2023 and has been credited for her prominent role in ushering Maine’s original Equality Model legislation into law. During a panel entitled “Maine: Successful Advocacy Lessons Learned”, as a part of the CSE Institute’s Symposium Mini-Series, Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan said of Representative Galgay Reckitt: “She would be a person who could break through the barriers because she mixes everything up. Everyone loves her… She is the perfect champion to do something utterly innovative.”
The CSE Institute is proud to see the enactment of the Sex Buyer Accountability Law and Maine’s continued dedication to addressing the sex trade through the Equality Model. We dedicate this post to Lois Galgay Reckitt – her activism and advocacy on behalf of Maine’s most vulnerable continues to inspire and guide the work of the CSE Institute.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.