Opponents of Grove’s bill said it was too broad and could sweep in teenagers having sex with other teenagers who exchange gifts or take actions that could be construed as soliciting. They also said the law could be used to target the LGBTQ community.
Committee amendments
Senate Public Safety on Tuesday advanced SB 1414, but with amendments over Grove’s objections.
The changes would take out the “strict liability” portion, meaning the bill would affect only those who knew the person they were soliciting was a minor, said Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-berkeley. The amendments would also specify the penalties and sex offender registration apply only to people 18 and older.
The first time a person solicits sex from someone under 16, the offense would be a “wobbler,” meaning prosecutors could charge it as a misdemeanor or a felony. The second offense would be a “straight felony” punishable by jail time, Skinner said.
Sex offender registration would be mandatory for repeat offenders.
“The problem with how it’s constructed now is it is not designed solely and only to get those persons who are being sex trafficked,” Skinner said. “Additionally, it goes after individuals who have not
... actually engaged in in any way.”
Other lawmakers agreed, saying Grove’s version of the bill was too broad.
“This bill will send people to state prison, put people in the sex offender registry — which is basically, effectively, in many ways, the end of their life for people — whether or not they’re engaged in human trafficking,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, D-san Francisco.
Grove said she accepted two amendments: one removing the strict liability portion and one specifying only repeat child sex solicitors would need to register as sex offenders.
But she took the other amendments as an insult and offensive to the survivors who came to support her bill. She was especially distraught about the change applying increased penalties only to situations involving minors under 16.
Grove was so upset about the changes she said she might remove her name from SB 1414. She said the amended measure now says, “16, 17-year-olds don’t matter.”
“They hijacked my bill,” Grove said. “They turned it into something that was palatable to them.”
Bill opposition
Opponents of Grove’s bill said it was too broad and could sweep in teenagers having sex with other teenagers who exchange gifts or take actions that could be construed as soliciting. They also said the law could be used to target the LGBTQ community.
“By passing Sen.
Grove’s SB 1414 as amended, committee members demonstrated a commitment to holding perpetrators of child sexual abuse accountable without hurting additional kids,” said Anne Irwin, director of Smart Justice California, a criminal justice reform advocacy group in a statement after the hearing.
This is Grove’s second bill aiming to prevent child sex by hiking penalties, which criminal justice reform advocates say is not effective and could have unintended consequences.
Last year, she authored Senate Bill 14, which made those convicted of child sex trafficking — which was already a felony — eligible for more prison time under California’s Three Strikes law.
SB 14 created upheaval in the Capitol just ahead of the Legislature’s monthlong summer recess. It initially failed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Debate over the bill turned ugly, with supporters claiming those who opposed it were pedophiles, especially online. Some committee members even reported receiving threats and abusive messages.
Eventually, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-hollister, intervened, and the committee held a last-minute hearing to advance the bill.
Lawmakers approved SB 14, and Newsom signed it in September.