JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri lawmakers are looking to increase use of a $2 million fund for witness protection that has gone mostly untapped since its inception four years ago.
At the time, law enforcement agencies were allowed to access funds from the Pre-Trial Witness Protection Services Fund. But the program got off to a slow start.
Only a total of about $53,700 was spent from the Pre-Trial Witness Services Protection Fund in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 despite officials earmarking $2 million for the effort.
The fund, created as part of an anti-crime special session in 2020, had a balance of nearly $2.1 million .
People are also reading…
A proposed change that advanced out of the House on Tuesday would explicitly permit prosecutors and circuit attorneys to access the funding.
The change was included in Senate Bill 60, a wide-ranging bill focused on protecting children and vulnerable people.
Additional provisions in the bill approved Tuesday included one measure to increase the penalty for patronizing prostitution, as part of an effort to combat human sex trafficking.
Currently in Missouri, someone engaged in prostitution faces the same punishment as the person buying the sex — a class B misdemeanor, that, for both, could lead to six months in a county lockup.
But the change included in the legislation would enact tougher penalties for the purchasers of sex — sometimes called “johns.”
Rep. Jeff Myers, R-Warrenton, told the Post-Dispatch last year he wanted to drive down demand by increasing the penalty for purchasers.
“That way you’re not focused on the prostitute. You’re focused on the person who’s committing the crime,” Myers said.
Legislation the House approved Tuesday would make it a class E felony to purchase or attempt to purchase sex with an adult, which would carry a prison sentence of up to four years.
An adult willingly engaged in prostitution isn’t considered a victim of human trafficking. But victims are performing sex acts for escort services and illicit massage businesses that buyers frequent, Myers said.
“If you look at the patrons of prostitution, it’s not necessarily — it’s folks that have jobs, it’s folks that have families,” he said. “For whatever reason, they’re doing it, those are their own. However, it’s not necessarily a victimless crime.”
The crime of prostitution — defined under state law as engaging in, or offering or agreeing to engage in, sexual conduct in exchange for something of value, which could be received by anyone — would remain a class B misdemeanor.
Human sex trafficking of an adult occurs when the perpetrator forces, coerces or defrauds a victim into performing commercial sex acts. Force, fraud or coercion doesn’t need to be shown for a minor to be a victim.
The legislation also changes references to “child pornography” in state law to “child sexual abuse material” — a term preferred by anti-abuse advocates.
The legislation now moves back to the Senate for further consideration. The legislative session ends May 16.
The legislation is Sena
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of April 27, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
