New bill will increase penalties for sex trafficking in New Hampshire

CONCORD — Penalties for sex trafficking minors will be more severe in the Granite State, under a recent bill adopted by the state Legislature and signed by the governor.

The state Legislature voted last month to amend RSA 633:7, regarding penalties for sex trafficking minors. Sex trafficking is defined as a commercial sex act or sexually explicit performance for the benefit of someone else. The amendment increases the minimum sentence from seven to 18 years, and a maximum term from 30 years to life imprisonment. Signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte on June 24, the change will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

SB 262 started in the Senate Judiciary Committee and was approved unanimously, then passed by the full Senate by voice vote. It passed in the House May 8, 290-71, with 10 abstaining and 27 absent. Sen. Tim Lang voted in favor of increasing sex trafficking penalties. He believes in harsher sentences, regardless of who is being trafficked.

“You trap them into a human trafficking situation, it’s horrible to treat another human being that way,” he said.

Most Republican representatives supported the bill, but Rep. Glen Aldrich (R-Gilford) did not. He made it clear he has zero tolerance for sex trafficking, but his disapproval of the bill came from opposing mandatory minimum or maximum sentences.

“I think we have a judicial system, and I think judges are fully capable of weighing all the components of the crime. And I mean, if it's horrendous, they need to be able to give out whatever they think is necessary."

Rep. Charlie St. Clair (D-Laconia) also voted no. While he made clear he finds sex trafficking “hideous,” he doesn't believe he should be making decisions about what happens in the courtroom. He thinks sentencing decisions belong in the hands of a judge who is presented with testimony and evidence. St. Clair made it clear he voted no because he heard nothing about it from city residents.

“I heard from none of my constituents on this bill,” St. Clair said. “So, this was left totally up to me, which is important to know, because I base my votes on what I hear from my constituents.”

Rep. Bryan Morse (R-Franklin) had a different approach.

“We got elected to do a job. A part of doing that job is protecting people,” Morse said. “I didn't even care to ask what my constituents wanted, because I told them from the start what my views were, what I had a plan on doing, and what I was going to accomplish, and who put me in office to do exactly what I said I was going to.”

Rep. Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro), who sponsored the bill, hopes increased penalties will deter people from engaging in trafficking or any illegal activity.

“We know that sex trafficking can also lead to other activities, even criminal activities, such as taking a minor child for an abortion,” Cordelli said. “We are concerned about the protection of our children, and this is another one of those measures.”

Local impact

The amendment could have impacts on cases like that of David Spadafora, 32, of Laconia, who is charged with sexual assault, three counts of forcing or intimidating a minor into prostitution, two counts of felony sexual assault on a victim 13-15, two counts of endangering a child, and one count of endangering a child by soliciting sex.

According to complaints in the case filed in March, Spadafora gave the victim weed and smoked it with them — a minor between the age of 13 and 16 — in exchange for sex acts.

Spadafora was indicted in May on charges of felony trafficking of a victim under age 16, and felony sexual assault of a victim aged 13-15. He was scheduled to be in Belknap Superior Court on July 15 for a conference.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt. Rather, it is a finding by a Grand Jury that enough evidence of an alleged crime exists to warrant bringing a case to trial.

“He looks forward to his day in court, [and] still going through the process of gathering information,” said Olivier Sakellarios, Spadafora’s attorney.

Assistant County Attorney Alexander Smeaton, who is prosecuting the case, said when he reviewed Spadafora’s charges, existing human trafficking statutes upgraded the charges from a lesser Class D to a Class A felony, based on circumstances and the age of the victim. This brings the penalty from a 3.5- to 7-year maximum sentence, to 7.5 to 15 years in prison.

“Providing financial payments to underage children, or underaged person to have sexual intercourse, is human trafficking per se,” Smeaton said. “She's under 16 at the time of this, and as is noted in the charging documents and indictments that elevated the crime, so we were able to get a greater possible sentence later down the road.”

By the numbers

Pamela Keilig, public policy specialist for The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, testified in favor of the bill in both the House and Senate, and provided statistics which helped contextualize the conversation. The testimony included that in 2023, NH’s crisis centers supported 81 victims of human trafficking, and 11% were children. In 2022, there were approximately 91 reports made to the Department of Children and Families about human trafficking, involving about 95 children in the Granite State.

On the coalition's website, it states 41% of sexual assaults occur before age 18.

Morse recalled a sex trafficking case from Franklin in 2016, where William Shine, who was already serving a 14- to 60-year prison sentence, received an additional three- to 30-year sentence, as well as mandatory participation in a sexual offender program while incarcerated.

In a local 2023 case, John Murray III, of Alton Bay, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material and sex trafficking minors. A pending case involves Stacy Lancaster, of Hudson, convicted on one charge of attempted sex trafficking a minor by a federal jury last month. Lancaster is in custody pending sentencing, scheduled for Monday, Aug. 18.

Morse, who has two children, finds legislation like this personal.

“I got two kids myself, 10 and 7. If someone was to traffic my children ... I got to be careful on what I would say here, but yeah, you kind of get the gist.”