SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signaled his support for a proposal targeting the consumers of child sex trafficking in California, but he suggested he has concerns about changes that were abruptly made to the proposal this week.
“I look forward to getting this bill on my desk in a way that I’ll sign it, but we have some work to do,” Newsom said in a virtual news conference Thursday in response to KCRA 3’s question on the proposal.
Republican State Senator Shannon Grove introduced the proposal, SB 1414 this year after successfully passing legislation that made child sex trafficking a serious felony in the state last year. The governor intervened when a committee in the Assembly tried to block that bill, SB 14, last summer.
Grove said through the work last year, she learned buyers typically face lesser, misdemeanor penalties, which prompted her to propose SB 1414, which would make the purchase or soliciting of a child for sex a felony.
Grove’s original version of SB 1414 also required those convicted to register as sex offenders for a decade and would have removed a requirement in state law which states that those convicted of soliciting a minor knew or should have known that person was a minor.
If the key factor in turning soliciting into a felony is the person solicited being a minor…..then common sense would say that “knew or should have known that person was a minor” is an important factor. But they want to remove that. It’s almost like they KNOW teens will voluntarily do sex work, and see an easy way to pad the registry. They are creating another category of low hanging fruit.
Someone should accuse KCRA of government by journalism. This crap has been going on since 1885 and it needs to stop.
The simple fact that there is a debate on this subject is, hopeful?
The Senate could have passed a bill that threw a giant blanket over the whole subject, making everything a felony with registration for the 1st conviction. Just presume that everyone 18+ years old who has sexual relations with anyone under 18 “Was soliciting”, is “Trafficking” and “did know”. Just declare that all of that is a universal truth, and then do whatever you want. Karen and Darren would love that, and very few people would argue with them.
So, while this discussion ignores many realities of teen sexuality, particularly the idea that teens will trade sex for things that want, it is still better than the blanket approach? Many States have done that… just presume the most politically convenient solution is universally true. This discussion is attempting to add, at least a tiny hint of rational thought into the otherwise unhinged moral panic?