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
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