What Happens If You’re Accused of Human Trafficking in Florida?
Recent arrests in Manatee County involved allegations of human trafficking through coercion and deriving support from prostitution, after an investigation that included an undercover detective. Many of these cases are brought in state court under Florida law, though federal agencies sometimes investigate human trafficking as well. If you or a friend or family member has been contacted about a trafficking or prostitution-related investigation, the safest step is to speak with an attorney before answering questions.
Attorney Ron Frey of The Frey Law Firm, LLC has over 20 years of experience handling state and federal criminal cases and represents people facing felony charges in Tampa Bay, including Manatee County. Call or text (813) 775-2276 for a free, confidential initial consultation by phone, video or in person.
What These Charges Usually Cover
In Florida, a human trafficking charge is not limited to moving someone across a state or national border. The law generally covers recruiting, harboring, providing, maintaining, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploiting that person. When prosecutors allege trafficking through coercion for commercial sexual activity involving an adult, they are usually relying on Florida’s human trafficking statute, section 787.06.
Coercion is broader than physical force. It can include threats, confinement, withholding identification documents, causing financial harm, using fraud or deceit, or providing certain controlled substances in order to exploit someone. Whether any of that applies depends on the facts of the case, not on how the allegation is described in a news story.
A separate charge, deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution, generally applies when someone lives on or takes money that they know, or have reason to believe, came from another person’s prostitution. That is charged under section 796.05. The two counts can appear together in the same case, but they are different theories. One focuses on exploiting another person through coercion. The other focuses on taking support from prostitution earnings.
Human trafficking through coercion for commercial sexual activity of an adult is generally a first-degree felony. Deriving support from prostitution is generally a second-degree felony for a first offense. This is also different from the online sting cases that involve solicitation or traveling to meet a minor, which we cover in our post on online sting arrests in Tampa Bay.
How These Investigations Usually Start
Cases like these often begin with an undercover investigation rather than a single traffic stop. A detective may pose as a customer, respond to an online ad, or visit a motel or other location where commercial sexual activity is suspected. Officers sometimes make more than one contact over a period of time before anyone is arrested.
These investigations can also start with a tip, a complaint from hotel staff or a neighbor, information from someone already in custody, or a larger operation that involves more than one agency. Digital records can become part of the file, including messages, payment records, location data and ads. What investigators collected, and how they collected it, can matter later.
An arrest is not the same thing as a formal charge. In a Florida state case, the officer’s report generally goes to the prosecutor, who decides what charges, if any, to file. Those charges may differ from the arrest charges. Our guides to the criminal report affidavit and the information, or charging document, explain those steps. State felony cases from Manatee County are heard in downtown Bradenton. See our Manatee County criminal defense page.
If Investigators Contact You
A detective may call, text, email or come to the door and ask you to come in and talk. That can happen before any arrest. The safest step is to speak with an attorney before answering questions or making a statement, and before agreeing to a search.
Investigators may also ask about phones, messages, payment apps or social media accounts. Whether you have to provide a device or a password depends on the circumstances, including whether there is a warrant or a court order. That is a question for a lawyer who has reviewed the situation, not something to decide on the spot from a news story or an online summary.
If you or a friend or family member has already been arrested, the same point applies to later interviews at the jail or at a station. Talk with counsel first.
Don’t Rely on the Internet or AI for Your Case
Online articles and AI chatbots can summarize what human trafficking or deriving support from prostitution means in general terms. They do not know your facts, what investigators already have or how Florida law applies to your situation. AI tools can also give answers that sound confident and still be wrong.
Typing details about an investigation, a conversation with a detective or messages into a chatbot or a search box is not private. Those words can be stored, shared or produced later. Use the internet for background, and bring the actual facts to a lawyer who can look at your situation under current law.
Talk With Attorney Ron Frey
Every case is different. Whether a human trafficking or deriving-support investigation leads to formal charges, and what those charges look like, depends on the facts, the evidence and the decisions the prosecutor makes.
Attorney Ron Frey of The Frey Law Firm, LLC represents people facing felony charges in Tampa Bay, including Manatee County. If you or a friend or family member has been contacted about a human trafficking or prostitution-related investigation, reach out before talking to investigators.
Call or text (813) 775-2276 for a free, confidential initial consultation by phone, video or in person.
FAQ
What should I do if a detective contacts me about a human trafficking investigation?
Speak with an attorney before answering questions or making a statement, and before agreeing to a search.
What is human trafficking through coercion in Florida?
In general terms, it is using coercion to exploit another person, including for commercial sexual activity. Coercion can include force or threats, confinement, withholding identification documents, financial harm, fraud or deceit, or providing certain controlled substances. Florida generally charges this under section 787.06. Whether it applies depends on the facts.
What does deriving support from prostitution mean?
It generally means living on or taking money that you know, or have reason to believe, came from another person’s prostitution. Florida generally charges this under section 796.05. It is a separate theory from human trafficking through coercion, though both counts can appear in the same case.