CA senator pushes bill for harsher penalties on child trafficking
- Senate Bill 14 aims to make child sex trafficking a serious crime
- Grove: 66% of victims trafficked are minors, and California is a hotbed
- The bill will remain on suspense file until Sept. 1, 2023
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(NewsNation) — A bill introduced by California Sen. Shannon Grove aims to make sex trafficking of minors a serious crime under California law and remains in limbo in the legislature.
Senate Bill 14 would make sex trafficking of victims under the age of 18 a “serious felony” eligible under the Three Strikes Law, which increases prison time for repeat offenders.
Currently, sex trafficking is not classified as a “serious felony.”
“66% of the individuals trafficked are minors, and California is a hotbed for human trafficking,” Grove said. “It’s beyond, again, my comprehension, that we cannot get this bill out of the assembly to the governor’s desk for his signature.”
In July, the bill was voted down before being picked up again following public outcry. This month, it’s expected to go through the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Grove’s office reported the bill would be placed in suspense, a process bills undergo when they have a fiscal impact of more than $150,000.
The bill will remain on the suspense file until Sept. 1, 2023. The committee will then consider whether it should pass or be retained.
