After 16- and 17-year-old victims had been excluded, an Assembly committee attempted to address the pushback.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A bill that was originally introduced to make soliciting a child for sex a felony underwent additional changes in the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee July 2.
At issue is Senate Bill 1414, authored by Republican Sen. Shannon Grove, which “aims to increase penalties for those who purchase children for sex,” her office said in a press release.
It was first amended in the Senate to exclude 16- and 17-year-old victims, make the crime a “wobbler”—where prosecutors can charge offenders with a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances—and require a 10-year age gap between the offender and the victim for those convicted to register as a sex offender.
Ms. Grove considered the changes to be “hostile” and made without her approval, noting that some members of both parties disagreed with those amendments.
In response to the changes, Democratic Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman said, “I’m done with us protecting people who would buy and abuse our children,” and she urged her colleagues to rethink their positions.
At Ms. Grove’s request, Assemblyman Juan Alanis—vice-chair of the public safety committee—made a motion at the July 2 hearing to remove the prior amendments, but the attempt failed.
The chair of the committee, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, then moved to make soliciting a minor over 15 a felony if the individual is a victim of human trafficking, and the motion was approved by the committee.
In a joint press release with Sen. Aisha Wahab, chair of the Senate’s Public Safety Committee, published hours before the hearing, they suggested their efforts will help protect minors and address concerns with the prior amendments.
“Our joint proposal will ensure justice for the children and teenagers targeted by these criminals, and we will succeed where years of previous attempts at similar legislation failed,” the lawmakers said. “Our goal is to always prioritize victims and punish predators, especially those who commit sexual crimes against children.”
The bill passed after being amended, but the author expressed a need to do more to protect children.
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