Calif. lawmakers block bid to make paying for sex with 16- and 17-year-olds a felony
California lawmakers gutted a bill Tuesday that would have made paying for sex with 16- and 17-year-olds a felony charge.
Under current state law, creeps who buy sex from minors under 16 face extra fines, jail time, and either a misdemeanor or felony charge.
A new bill meant to protect sex trafficking victims, AB 379, would have upped that age to 18, but Democratic committee members demanded the clause be cut before they let the bill move forward in the California State Assembly.
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Nick Schultz is chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, which blocked a key piece of AB 379.
Facebook / Nick Schultz
The bill's author, Democrat Maggy Krell, who spent two decades overseeing human trafficking cases for the state, called the move a 'disgrace.'
'I've been doing this for 20 years, and I'm not going to quit now. And I am going to bring this part of this bill back every year until I get the books to protect children. That's what I'm going to do,' she told KCRA 3.
Krell added that she still supports the current version AB 379, which imposes harsher penalties on 'loitering with intent to purchase sex' — i.e., prowling street corners for hookups — and establishes a fund for sex trafficking victims.
Democrat Assemblymember Maggy Krell wrote the bill.
Assemblymember Maggy Krell
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Last year, Republican lawmakers pushed for a similar bill to crack down on Johns prowling for underage streetwalkers. They managed to cut a deal with Democrats to lower the felony age cutoff from 18 to 16.
Democrat Nick Shultz, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said the watering-down of AB 379 was a direct result of that previous deal.
'My perspective as chair, there was a carefully crafted deal last year,' Shultz told KCRA 3. 'We're not saying 'no,' but what we're saying is, if we're going to be thoughtful policy makers, we really need to dive deep into this issue.'
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