CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada lawmakers are attempting to extend sex trafficking penalties to people who provide transportation to perpetrators of sex tourism.
Anyone who knowingly takes people to illegal prostitution rings or to watch child pornography in Nevada could be convicted of sex trafficking under Senate Bill 488.
Trafficking survivor and lobbyist Kimberly Mull says she's dumbfounded that people who cart around criminal customers are not currently considered traffickers.
Mull is working on the bill with Sen. Pat Spearman and other Democratic lawmakers.
Airline providers and victims' advocates support the measure.
Opponents argue increasing trafficking penalties and subjecting facilitators to at least 20 years in prison, as proposed, is unfair.
The bill is among several measures this session aimed at reining in illegal prostitution in a state that licenses brothels in rural areas.