SB 671

Under current law, child enticement is a Class D felony. Child enticement is the act of causing or attempting to cause a child to go into any vehicle, building, room, or secluded place for various sexual purposes, including sexual contact or sexual intercourse; prostitution; to expose a person’s genitals, pubic area, or intimate parts to the child or to cause the child to expose his or her genitals, pubic area, or intimate parts; or to record the child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

This bill creates a crime of grooming a child for sexual activity. Under this bill, no person may engage in a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse or sexual contact or for the purpose of producing distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The bill provides examples of a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts that could constitute grooming, including verbal comments, suggestions, or conversations of a sexual nature directed toward a child; inappropriate or sexualized physical contact; written, electronic, or digital communications to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child; and isolating a child. A person who is convicted of the crime of grooming a child for sexual activity is guilty of a Class G felony, except that, if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child, the classification increases to a Class F felony; if the child has a disability known to the person, the classification increases to a Class E felony; and if the violation involves two or more children, the classification increases to a Class D felony. Additionally, the person is subject to consequences for committing a child sex offense such as the requirement to register with the Department of Corrections as a sex offender. The crime does not apply to a person who is 18 or under if it involves a child who is not more than four years younger than the person unless the violation involves force, coercion, or abuse of a position of trust or authority over the child.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.