Mo. Rev. Stat. § 566.200

Current with changes from the 2024 Legislative Session

Section 566.200 - Definitions

As used in sections 566.200 to 566.218 and section 578.475*, the following terms shall mean:

(1)"Basic rights information", information applicable to a noncitizen, including but not limited to information about human rights, immigration, emergency assistance and resources, and the legal rights and resources for victims of domestic violence;

(2)"Blackmail", any threat to reveal damaging or embarrassing information about a person to that person's spouse, family, associates, or the public at large, including a threat to expose any secret tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule;

(3)"Client", a person who is a resident of the United States and the state of Missouri and who contracts with an international marriage broker to meet recruits;

(4)"Coercion":

(a) Threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;

(b) Any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or

(c) The abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process;

(5)"Commercial sex act", any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to, promised, or received by any person;

(6)"Criminal history record information", criminal history record information, including information provided in a criminal background check, obtained from the Missouri state highway patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(7)"Financial harm", detriment, injury, or loss of a financial nature, including credit extortion, criminal violation of the usury laws under chapter 408, or employment contracts that violate the statute of frauds provisions under chapter 432;

(8)"International marriage broker":

(a) A corporation, partnership, business, individual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized under any law of the United States or any other state, that charges fees to residents of Missouri for providing dating, matrimonial, or social referrals or matching services between United States citizens or residents and nonresident aliens by providing information or a forum that would permit individuals to contact each other. Such contact shall include, but is not limited to:

a. Providing the name, telephone number, postal address, electronic mail address, or voice message mailbox of an individual, or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals; or

b. Providing an opportunity for an in-person meeting;

(b) Such term shall not include:

a. A traditional matchmaking organization of a religious nature that operates on a nonprofit basis and otherwise operates in compliance with the laws of the countries in which it operates, including the laws of the United States;

b. An entity that provides dating services between United States citizens or residents and other individuals who may be aliens, but does not do so as its principal business, and charges comparable rates to all individuals it serves regardless of the gender or country of citizenship or residence of the individual; or

c. An organization that does not charge a fee to any party for the services provided;

(9)"Involuntary servitude or forced labor", a condition of servitude induced by means of:

(a) Any scheme, plan, or pattern of behavior intended to cause a person to believe that, if the person does not enter into or continue the servitude, such person or another person will suffer serious physical injury or physical restraint; or

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

(10)"Marital history information", a declaration of the person's current marital status, the number of times the person has previously been married, and whether any previous marriages occurred as a result of service from an international marriage broker;

(11)"Nudity", the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, vulva, anus, or any part of the nipple or areola of the female breast;

(12)"Peonage", illegal and involuntary servitude in satisfaction of debt;

(13)"Recruit", a noncitizen, nonresident recruited by an international marriage broker for the purpose of providing dating, matrimonial, or social referral services;

(14)"Sexual conduct", sexual intercourse as defined in section 566.010; deviate sexual intercourse as defined in section 566.010; actual or simulated acts of human masturbation; physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or the breast of a female in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification; or any sadomasochistic abuse or acts including animals or any latent objects in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification;

(15)"Sexual performance", any play, motion picture, still picture, film, videotape, video recording, dance, or exhibition which includes sexual conduct or nudity, performed before an audience of one or more, whether in person or online or through other forms of telecommunication;

(16)"Victim of trafficking", a person who is a victim of offenses under section 566.203, 566.206, 566.209, 566.210**, or 566.211**.

§ 566.200, RSMo

L. 2004H.B. 1487 , A.L. 2005H.B. 353 , A.L. 2011H.B. 214.