Senator Grove‘s Measure to Make Purchasing a Child for Sex a Felony, hijacked by Senate Public Safety Committee.

California Sen. Shannon Grove wants to make buying sex with children a felony, even if the aggressor doesn’t know the child is under 18 with SB 1414.

Senator Grove presented her bill April 16th, 2024 at the Committee on Public Safety: Senator Wahab Chair and Senator Seyarto Vice Chair.  Many came to show their support, including victims of child solicitation.  Both sides were given an opportunity to have witnesses.  However Senator Grove’s request to have her technical witness testify was declined by the Chair and the opposition’s was not.  Senator Grove offered two amendments to the committee including one requested by committee member Senator Bradford who offered his support of her bill if accepted.   Both amendments were rejected.  The committee offered their own set of amendments to Senator Grove but without the testimony of her technical witness Senator Grove was not inclined to accept the amendments because she did not believe they would work in the “real world.”  Senator Skinner moved to adopt the committee amendments anyway and they passed due to a quorum established earlier.  In her closing, Senator Grove stated she was not accepting the amendments being forced on her by the committee. 

The Senate Public Safety Committee made changes to Senator Shannon Grove's bill, SB 1414, without her agreement. Instead of voting on Senator Grove’s bill as proposed, members of the committee instead forced hostile amendments and voted the bill out of committee without Senator Grove’s consent. The bill originally aimed to enhance protections for minor victims by criminalizing all involvement in commercial sex with a child. Now, instead of making the purchase of all children a felony, the committee has made the solicitation or purchase of children for sex punishable by a wobbler, which can still be charged as a misdemeanor, punishable by as little as 2 days in jail or up to a $10,000 fine.  Senator Grove is actively discussing the next steps with her joint authors, coalition of survivors and advocates who are deeply invested in the outcome of this bill. She is committed to continuing the fight for all victims and survivors of sexual exploitation.