ASSEMBLY AGING AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

with committee amendments

ASSEMBLY, No. 4477

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 4, 2025

      The Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4477.

      As amended, this bill establishes an affirmative defense to prosecution for crimes committed by a victim of human trafficking under certain circumstances. 

     Under current law, it is a defense to a prosecution for the following crimes if the perpetrator of the offense is a victim of human trafficking:  human trafficking; providing services, resources, or assistance with the knowledge that the services, resources, or assistance are intended to be used in furtherance of the commission of the crime of human trafficking; and prostitution and related offenses. 

     This bill establishes an affirmative defense for human trafficking victims charged with any offense enumerated in Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes if:  (1) during the time of the alleged commission of the offense, the defendant was a victim of human trafficking; and (2) the crime was committed as a direct result of the human trafficking offense that was committed against the defendant.  The bill further provides that an affirmative defense under the bill is not precluded based solely on the lack of a conviction for, or non-pursuit of, the underlying human trafficking offense committed against the victim. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments revise section 1 of the bill to state that an affirmative defense is not precluded for non-pursuit of the underlying human trafficking offense committed against the victim.

      Additionally, the committee amended the bill to remove sections 2 and 3 of the bill.  The sections were removed to limit references to the affirmative defense for victims of human trafficking for prosecution of any crime committed contained in Title 2C of the Revised Statutes to section 1 of the bill.