California lawmakers on Friday approved legislation to crack down on child prostitution and allow prosecutors to charge anyone who purchases sex from a minor with a felony.
The author of Senate Bill 1414, Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), said the law would correct the misguided provision in current law that limits soliciting a minor to a misdemeanor charge. Trafficking children for prostitution already is a felony and this bill, according to Grove, closes the circle by allowing people who purchase sex from a minor to be charged with a felony as well.
“I proudly support this measure because people who commit this disgusting crime need to be sure they’re held accountable for damaging the lives of our children forever,” Assemblymember Joe Paterson (R-Rocklin) said during a lengthy and emotional testimony from lawmakers Friday evening.
The bill now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his consideration.
“We know how horrendous sex trafficking of children is, the unimaginable pain, anguish and grief caused by these callous acts leaves lifelong emotional and physical scars on its victims if they’re lucky enough to make it out alive,” Grove said during a Senate committee hearing on the bill in April. “We’ve all focused our attention on the traffickers themselves and the brutality of selling a child. And unfortunately, we haven’t focused enough on the buying side of the equation. We know how supply and demand works. In order to buy and sell a child for sex there must be someone willing to purchase that child for sex.”
Prosecutors say they have several means to charge people with felonies for purchasing sex from children, including minors under 14, and for instances of child molestation or rape as well as attempted child molestation. But legal experts say the buying of children in California goes largely “unchecked,” and that most convicted people will serve less than their full time because they are entitled to credits that reduce their sentences.
The bill specifies that if the victim were under 16, the person would be charged with a wobbler, which means they can be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony on the first offense and can be sentenced anywhere from 16 months to up to three years in county jail and pay upward of a $10,000 fine. On the second offense, a person would be charged with a felony and can face up to three years in county jail. A person 18 years or older who already has one prior conviction for soliciting a minor would be required to be added to the sex offender registry if they were 10 years or older than the victim.
Last year, Grove introduced an iteration of this bill that targets people who trafficking children for prostitution. The Democrat-majority Legislature, which has long fought for less punitive laws, initially did not pass the legislation. But Gov. Gavin Newsom interjected and requested a second vote in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. The committee ended up reversing course and passed it. Since its passage, at least two known cases of child trafficking have been prosecuted in Monterey and Sacramento counties, according to Grove’s office.