SACRAMENTO—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 on July 2.
It was first amended in the Senate to exclude 16- and 17-year-old victims, make the crime a “wobbler”—which means 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 be required to register as a sex offender.
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 older than 15 a felony if the individual is a victim of human trafficking, and the motion was approved by the committee.
He and Sen. Aisha Wahab, chair of the Senate’s Public Safety Committee, suggested in a joint statement published hours before the hearing that 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.
“I’m glad that we’re moving the bill forward, and I look forward to having more conversations to protect 16- and 17-year-olds,” Ms. Grove told The Epoch Times on July 2 after the hearing. “But I am disappointed that they didn’t take the amendments for all minors to be protected.”
Ms. Grove said she will continue to pursue stiffer charges for those soliciting minors for sex.
Some testifying in opposition to the bill argued during the hearing that stiffer penalties for offenders are ineffective and could traumatize those who are sentenced to prison.
Others countered that lifelong trauma is experienced by children who are bought and sold for sex.
Assemblyman Tom Lackey,a member of the public safety committee, told The Epoch Times after the hearing that the bill should have been restored to its original language but noted that progress was made by passing the proposal.
“I’m hurt by it, I’m frustrated by it, but at least we moved something,” Mr. Lackey said.
One law enforcement expert—who retired with 30 years of experience from the Los Angeles Police Department—said the need to prove that minors older than 15 were sexually trafficked to charge solicitors with a felony is problematic.
“This is kind of smoke and mirrors,” Stephany Powell, senior adviser on law enforcement and policy for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation—a nonprofit headquartered in Washington—told The Epoch Times. “Oftentimes 16- and 17-year-olds don’t even self-identify as sex trafficking victims, and proving that they were is going to be a problem.”
She said the dynamics of the prostitution trade make it especially difficult for victims to talk about what happened to them.
“They’re going to have to tell on their pimps, and we know that oftentimes pimps are gang members,” Ms. Powell said. “This puts them in danger and revictimizes them.”
Having passed the safety committee, SB 1414 will next be heard by the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee on a date yet to be determined. The Legislature’s summer recess began on July 4, and lawmakers are set to return on Aug. 5.
Mr. Gipson declined to comment on the decision.
