JEFFERSON CITY – Senator Robert F. (Bob) Onder, Jr., R-Lake St. Louis, today applauded the governor’s signing of House Bill 1562 – a measure that will expand the definition of sexual trafficking to include the advertising of a child participating in a commercial sexual act and consider such action a criminal offense. Senator Onder proposed similar legislation earlier in the session, and handled HB 1562’s passage through the Senate. The bill was signed into law today by the governor and will become effective on August 28, 2016.
“I am thrilled that the General Assembly and governor made this legislation a top priority after Representative Haahr and Congresswoman Ann Wagner led the charge on this issue,” Sen. Onder said. “Child sex trafficking is a serious problem that is on the rise in Missouri, especially in the St. Louis area, which is one of the top-20 regions for this crime in the country.”
According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, the human trafficking industry generates $9.5 billion annually and puts around 300,000 children at risk of prostitution in the United States alone.
“I am hopeful this bill will help crack down on those criminals who do serious harm to children across our state, and hopefully deter such serious crime in the future,” Sen. Onder said.