Lawmakers Incensed by “Watering Down” of Language in Child Sex Solicitation Bill

Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media(CBM) – After an emotional hearing on July 2, the Assembly Public Safety Committee voted to advance Senate Bill (SB) 1414 with an 8-0 vote. The legislation is an anti-sex-trafficking measure designed to increase penalties for those who purchase sex from children,SB 1414, co- authored by Senators Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), will be reviewed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee after the legislature break ends on Aug. 5. The legislation has received bipartisan support. However, “critical amendments” were removed, Grove said. She is not satisfied with the language currently in the bill and is pressing members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee to allow key provisions to be restored.“I am disappointed that they didn’t accept the amendments for all minors to be protected under felony convictions,” Grove said after the committee’s vote. “I am not going to give up fighting for those 16 and 17-year-olds – and all minors,” Grove stated. “Now, the district attorneys would have to prove two crimes: that they were bought and sold in order to go back to the perpetrator (trafficker) who initiated the whole process.”SB 1414 made it off the Senate...