Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 940.302 (2026)
Human trafficking
✓ current as of July 2026
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940.302(1)(a)(a) “Commercial sex act” means any of the following for which anything of value is given to, promised, or received, directly or indirectly, by any person:
940.302(1)(a)3.b.b. Any other conduct done for the purpose of sexual humiliation, degradation, arousal, or gratification.
940.302(1)(b)(b) “Debt bondage” means the condition of a debtor arising from the debtor’s pledge of services as a security for debt if the reasonable value of those services is not applied toward repaying the debt or if the length and nature of the services are not defined.
940.302(1)(c)(c) “Services” means activities performed by one individual at the request, under the supervision, or for the benefit of another person.
940.302(1)(d)(d) “Trafficking” means recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining, or attempting to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain, an individual.
940.302(2)(a)(a) Except as provided in s. 948.051, whoever knowingly engages in trafficking is guilty of a Class C felony if all of the following apply:
940.302(2)(a)2.e.e. Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing, or threatening to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess, any actual or purported passport or any other actual or purported official identification document of any individual.
940.302(2)(a)2.i.i. Controlling or threatening to control any individual’s access to an addictive controlled substance.
940.302(2)(a)2.j.j. Using any scheme, pattern, or other means to directly or indirectly coerce, threaten, or intimidate any individual.
940.302(2)(a)2.L.L. Causing or threatening to cause any individual to do any act against the individual’s will or without the individual’s consent.
940.302(2)(b)(b) Whoever benefits in any manner from a violation of par. (a) is guilty of a Class C felony if the person knows or reasonably should have known that the benefits come from or are derived from an act or scheme described in par. (a).
940.302(2)(c)(c) Whoever knowingly receives compensation from the earnings of debt bondage, a prostitute, or a commercial sex act, as described in sub. (1) (a) 1. and 2., is guilty of a Class E felony.
940.302(3)(3) Any person who incurs an injury or death as a result of a violation of sub. (2) may bring a civil action against the person who committed the violation. In addition to actual damages, the court may award punitive damages to the injured party, not to exceed treble the amount of actual damages incurred, and reasonable attorney fees.
940.302 AnnotationHalting Modern Slavery in the Midwest: The Potential of Wisconsin Act 116 to Improve the State and Federal Response to Human Trafficking. Ozalp. 2009 WLR 1391.
940.302 AnnotationA Path to Protection: Collateral Crime Vacatur for Wisconsin’s Victims of Sex Trafficking. Mullins. 2019 WLR 1551.
940.302 AnnotationUnder the Radar: Human Trafficking in Wisconsin. Monaco-Wilcox & Mueller. Wis. Law. Oct. 2017.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases (9 in the last 5 years), 2014–2026 · leading case: State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2021 WI App 46 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).
State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2021 WI App 46 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302, “Human trafficking,” provides in relevant part: (1) In this section: (a) “Commercial sex act” means any of the following for which anything of value is given to, promised, or received, directly or indirectly, by any person: 1.”
State v. Markell Hogan, 2021 WI App 24 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302(1)(d), (2)(a) (as relevant here, it is a felony to use force, threats, fraud, or coercion to knowingly recruit, transport, or provide an individual for the purposes of a commercial sex act).”
State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2022 WI 58 (Wis. 2022). “The circuit court determined that the defense "is available to [Kizer] so long as [she] is charged with one of the acts in §940.302(2) . . . and . . . the cause of the offenses listed in 940.”
People v. Cardenas, 338 P.3d 430 (Colo. Ct. App. 2014). “Code § 61-2-17 (2014), Wis. Stat. § 940.302 (2014); Wyo. Stat. Ann.”
State v. Torrence C. Smothers (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 940.302 (2021-22),1 should be overturned because the complaint did not cite the same subsection of the statute as that under which he was tried.”
State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2022 WI 58 (Wis. 2022). “The circuit court determined that the defense "is available to [Kizer] so long as [she] is charged with one of the acts in §940.302(2) . . . and . . . the cause of the offenses listed in 940.”
State v. John Anthony Jackson (Wis. Ct. App. 2022). “§ 940.302. Human trafficking is also not limited to trafficking for the purpose of a commercial sex act, but includes trafficking “for the purposes of labor or services.”
State v. Deron Darnell Love (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “We conclude that this claim of ineffective assistance fails. F. Viable defense to the third element of the human trafficking charge ¶45 Love argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present a viable defense that the State did not prove the third element of the…”
State v. Anton R. Dorsey (Wis. 2018). “, the court could hold that evidence of other, similar22 acts by the accused is admissible, even if the acts relate to a different victim, if the similar acts are offered in a criminal proceeding that alleges (1) a violation of Wis. Stat. § 940.302 (2); (2) a violation of Wis.”
State v. Kimeo D. Conley (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302(2) or WIS. STAT. § 948.051 faces specific restitution calculations: the restitution order may require that the defendant pay an amount equal to any of the following: (a) The costs of necessary transportation, housing, and child care for the victim.”
State v. Jacqueline Carla Davis (Wis. Ct. App. 2026). “§ 940.302(2)(c); WIS JI—CRIMINAL 1277. ¶57 Importantly, Davis’s defense, from the moment she was arrested, was that she never intended to prostitute Holli but rather she sought only to scam Holli into thinking that Holli would be committing acts of prostitution but instead 24 No.”
— Wis. Stat. § 940.302(1)(d) — 2 cases
State v. Markell Hogan, 2021 WI App 24 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302(1)(d), (2)(a) (as relevant here, it is a felony to use force, threats, fraud, or coercion to knowingly recruit, transport, or provide an individual for the purposes of a commercial sex act).”
State v. Deron Darnell Love (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “We conclude that this claim of ineffective assistance fails. F. Viable defense to the third element of the human trafficking charge ¶45 Love argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present a viable defense that the State did not prove the third element of the…”
— Wis. Stat. § 940.302(2) — 4 cases
State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2021 WI App 46 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302, “Human trafficking,” provides in relevant part: (1) In this section: (a) “Commercial sex act” means any of the following for which anything of value is given to, promised, or received, directly or indirectly, by any person: 1.”
State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2022 WI 58 (Wis. 2022). “The circuit court determined that the defense "is available to [Kizer] so long as [she] is charged with one of the acts in §940.302(2) . . . and . . . the cause of the offenses listed in 940.”
State v. Chrystul D. Kizer, 2022 WI 58 (Wis. 2022). “The circuit court determined that the defense "is available to [Kizer] so long as [she] is charged with one of the acts in §940.302(2) . . . and . . . the cause of the offenses listed in 940.”
State v. Kimeo D. Conley (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302(2) or WIS. STAT. § 948.051 faces specific restitution calculations: the restitution order may require that the defendant pay an amount equal to any of the following: (a) The costs of necessary transportation, housing, and child care for the victim.”
— Wis. Stat. § 940.302(2)(a) — 4 cases
State v. Markell Hogan, 2021 WI App 24 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021). “§ 940.302(1)(d), (2)(a) (as relevant here, it is a felony to use force, threats, fraud, or coercion to knowingly recruit, transport, or provide an individual for the purposes of a commercial sex act).”
State v. Torrence C. Smothers (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 940.302 (2021-22),1 should be overturned because the complaint did not cite the same subsection of the statute as that under which he was tried.”
State v. John Anthony Jackson (Wis. Ct. App. 2022). “§ 940.302. Human trafficking is also not limited to trafficking for the purpose of a commercial sex act, but includes trafficking “for the purposes of labor or services.”
State v. Deron Darnell Love (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “We conclude that this claim of ineffective assistance fails. F. Viable defense to the third element of the human trafficking charge ¶45 Love argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present a viable defense that the State did not prove the third element of the…”
— Wis. Stat. § 940.302(2)(c) — 2 cases
State v. Torrence C. Smothers (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 940.302 (2021-22),1 should be overturned because the complaint did not cite the same subsection of the statute as that under which he was tried.”
State v. Jacqueline Carla Davis (Wis. Ct. App. 2026). “§ 940.302(2)(c); WIS JI—CRIMINAL 1277. ¶57 Importantly, Davis’s defense, from the moment she was arrested, was that she never intended to prostitute Holli but rather she sought only to scam Holli into thinking that Holli would be committing acts of prostitution but instead 24 No.”
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