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Kentucky · Snapshot 09/05/2026

KRS 529.010: Definitions.

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  1. KRS Chapter 529

The following definitions apply in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process" means the use or threatened use

of a law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any man ner

or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on

another person to cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking some

action;

(2) "Advancing prostitution" -- A person "advances prostitution" when actin g other

than as a prostitute or as a patron thereof, he or she knowingly causes or aids a

person to engage in prostitution, procures or solicits patrons for prostitution,

provides persons or premises for prostitution purposes, operates or assists in the

operation of a house of prostitution or a prostitution enterprise, or engages in any

conduct designed to institute, aid or facilitate an act or enterprise of prostitution;

(3) "Commercial sexual activity" means:

(a) Any sex act, for which anything of value i s given to, promised to, or received

by any person;

(b) Participation in the production of obscene material as set out in KRS Chapter

531; or

(c) Engaging in a sexually explicit performance;

(4) "Debt bondage" means the status or condition of a debtor aris ing from a pledge by

the debtor of his or her personal services or of those of a person under his or her

control as a security for the debt, if the value of those services as reasonably

assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the leng th and nature of

those services are not respectively limited and defined;

(5) "Forced labor or services" means labor or services that are performed or provided

by another person and that are obtained through force, fraud, or coercion;

(6) "Force, fraud, or coercion" includes but is not limited to:

(a) The use or threat of force against, abduction of, restraint, or serious harm of an

individual;

(b) The abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process;

(c) Facilitating, controlling, or threatening to contro l an individual's access to a

controlled substance;

(d) Knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing, or

attempting to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess any actual or

purported passport or other immigration documents or any other actual or

purported governmental identification documents of the person o r family

member;

(e) Use of debt bondage; or

(f) The use of an individual's physical or mental impairment when the

impairment has a substantial adverse effect on the individual's cognitive or

volitional function;

(7) "Human trafficking" refers to criminal activity whereby one (1) or more persons are

subjected to engaging in:

(a) Forced labor or services; or

(b) Commercial sexual activity through the use of force, fraud, or coercion,

except that if the trafficked person is under the age of eighteen (18), the

commercial sexual activity need not involve force, fraud, or coercion;

(8) "Human trafficking victims fund" is the fund created in KRS 529.140;

(9) "Labor" means work of economic or financial value;

(10) "Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen (18) years;

(11) "Profiting from prostitution" -- A person "profits from prostitution" when acting

other than as a prostitute receiving compensation for personally rendered

prostitution services, he or she knowingly accepts or receives or agrees to accept or

receive money or other property pursuant to an agreement or understanding with

any person whereby he or she participates or is to participate in proceeds of

prostitution activity;

(12) "Serious harm" means any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, includ ing

psychological, financial, or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious to compel

a reasonable person to perform or to continue performing commercial sexual

activity in order to avoid incurring that harm;

(13) "Services" means an ongoing relations hip between a person and the actor in which

the person performs activities under the supervision of or for the benefit of the

actor;

(14) "Sexual conduct" means sexual intercourse or any act of sexual gratification

involving the sex organs;

(15) "Sexually explicit performance" means a performance of sexual conduct involving:

(a) Acts of masturbation, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, sexual

intercourse, or deviant sexual intercourse, actual or simulated;

(b) Physical contact with, or willful or intentional exhibition of, the genitals;

(c) Flagellation or excretion for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification;

or

(d) The exposure, in an obscene manner, of the unclothed or apparently unclothed

human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttoc ks, or the female breast,

whether or not subsequently obscured by a mark placed thereon, or otherwise

altered, in any resulting motion picture, photograph, or other visual

representation, exclusive of exposure portrayed in matter of a private, family

nature not intended for distribution outside the family; and

(16) "Victim of human trafficking" is a person who has been subjected to human

trafficking.

Collected 2026-09-05T21:00:04Z. Source file · JSON

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