'Let's end the demand': New law makes buying sex in Texas a felony offense

On Sept. 1, a new Texas state law went into effect that criminalizes the purchase of sex as a felony.

Houston Chronicle reports that Texas is the first state in the country to make buying sex a felony offense.

"To crack down on human trafficking, a new Texas law taking effect on Sept. 1 will turn the crime of buying sex from a misdemeanor to a felony," Houston City Councilman Robert Gallegos wrote in an Aug. 31 Twitter post. "Any would-be 'John' convicted of solicitation will face 180 days to two years in state jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Let's end the demand!"

House Bill 1540 was authored by Texas State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) and garnered unanimous approval in both chambers of the Texas Legislature.

Texas State Rep. Ann Johnson (D-Houston), the former chief human trafficking prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, said that the law will shift prosecution from women, who are often victims of sex trafficking, to buyers of sex and pimps, according to Houston Chronicle.

“If you think about it, the easiest population that you can go after is the demand side,” Johnson said. “We are sending a really strong message that the demand is kind of the linchpin. We as a society are saying, ‘Boys will not be boys,’ and that buying sex is actually fueling the exploitation of another human being, and it’s not OK in the state of Texas.”

Guided by recommendations from the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, HB 1540 is considered a stepping stone in the state's fight against the solicitation of sex, KTEN News reports.

"If a person has a prior conviction, that makes it a third-degree felony," Grayson County District Attorney Brett Smith said, according to KTEN News. "And if the person the John is trying to solicit or agree to have sex with is a person under 18, that becomes a second-degree felony, which has a range of punishment of two to 20 years."

To further protect minors and vulnerable groups, the new legislation also raises criminal penalties for sex traffickers that recruit from child care or treatment facilities.

“This bill protects the vulnerable children in foster care who are placed at residential treatment centers where pimps have been known to prey upon and lure those youth into sex trafficking,” Thompson said during a March committee hearing, according to Houston Chronicle.