I urge the New York State Legislature to pass A.9214 (Paulin) / S.8609 (Myrie), the Victim Protection and Child Sex Buyer Accountability Act. This legislation would bring New York into alignment with federal law and the laws of nearly every other state, while more accurately reflecting the realities of sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation today.

New York is currently the only state in the nation that continues to treat the solicitation of 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old children for sex as a low-level offense, meaning perpetrators do not face felony charges. Under current New York law, an adult who buy a 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old child can face far weaker consequences than someone who exploits a younger child. That distinction is dangerous. It tells predators that the age of the child they target can determine how seriously the state treats the crime.

The failures of New York law are particularly glaring in light of the exploitation perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s trafficking operation in New York City. Numerous survivors have reported being sexually exploited in Manhattan as teenagers, including at ages 15, 16, and 17. Many of the girls pulled into that network were groomed, manipulated, coerced, and targeted by adults with money, influence, and protection. Yet under current law, many of the adults who purchased or sexually exploited these minors would not necessarily face felony-level accountability for soliciting children.

As one survivor of Epstein and Maxwell’s trafficking operation explained:

“I know what it means to be a teenage girl targeted by powerful adults, groomed by people who knew exactly what they were doing, and then left to carry the consequences while the adults responsible evade accountability.”

The Victim Protection and Child Sex Buyer Accountability Act would correct these deficiencies by affirming that any minor under the age of 18 who is bought for commercial sex is, by definition, a victim of trafficking. The bill would ensure survivors are recognized as victims—not criminals—and that those who sexually exploit children face meaningful accountability. It would also modernize statutory language to reflect the coercive tactics traffickers actually use, strengthening New York’s ability to hold perpetrators accountable while validating survivors’ lived experiences.

Importantly, this legislation recognizes that commercial sexual exploitation does not occur in a vacuum. Demand drives trafficking. Adults who purchase children for sex fuel and sustain exploitative markets, creating the financial incentive for traffickers to recruit, groom, and exploit vulnerable youth. Buyers are not secondary actors in trafficking systems—they are central participants in the abuse.

This bill will not undo what happened to survivors of Epstein’s trafficking network or to countless others exploited across New York. But it can help protect the next child and make clear that New York will not treat the purchase of a child for sex as a minor offense.

New York lawmakers must close a legal loophole that should never have existed and affirm a principle that should be beyond debate: every child under 18 deserves the full protection of the law.

A child is a child. The law should finally treat them that way.