The California Trafficking Bill to Fight Child Sex Trafficking is raging with the authors of the bill to remove provisions targeting consumers to pass the bill.
State Sen. Maggie Krell, a Democrat, has agreed to remove the clause from Congressional Bill 379, which would cause 16- and 17-year-old buyers to face felony charges due to sex.
“To receive a hearing on the bill, we were forced to remove some of the bills that guarantee the crime of sexually purchasing minors in all cases where victims are under the age of 18,” Krell told Fox News Digital.
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The views of the California Capitol Building on California Legislative Advocacy Day held in Sacramento, California on March 13, 2024. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images of the National Urban League)
“I am truly opposed to that revision,” she added. “This is my life's job and I will partner with sex trafficking survivors and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all minors are protected from the fear of sex trafficking.”
Cler said the bill “still criminalizes noisy creep to buy teenagers for sex and sets up funds to help victims. These will be powerful tools in the fight against sex trafficking – that's a good start.”
Republicans in the California Legislature quickly criticized Democrats for the change.
“Why is @Assemblydems planning to cut down felony charges for adults buying 16 and 17 years old for sex?” a California Legislature Republican posted on X. “There are no excuses. Protect your children.
Previously, media reports said lawmakers wanted to hold an information hearing on the issue in the fall ahead of the bill.
The bill came together after teenagers were excluded from state laws that came into effect this year, making purchasing sex under the age of 15 a felony. Last year, California Sen. Shanon Globe wrote a bill that made purchasing minors illegal for sex, but excluded the 16- and 17-year-olds.
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Democrat California State Sen. Maggie Krell said Monday he agreed to remove provisions in the Child Sex Trafficking Bill, which ensures that the crime of victims purchasing minor minorities in all cases under the age of 18 is true. (Assembly member Maggie Krell)
Currently, traffickers, not buyers, face the toughest consequences when convicted of human trafficking under the age of 18.
AB 379 faced an important deadline this Friday and dropped from the Public Safety Commission agenda due to Tuesday's meeting.
Republican Rep. David Tangipa said the move is a way to kill bills lawmakers don't want to hear. If Krell doesn't want to accept the amendment, committee chairperson Nick Schultz will have discretion as to whether the law should be heard, Tangipa said.
“Apparently, what they want to do is remove the 16- and 17-year-old portions of the bill, then increase penalties and fines,” Tangipa, who previously had trafficked relatives, told Fox News Digital. “What actually sounds like is that California is taking part in prostitution and human trafficking.”
Fox News contacted Schultz's office and the State Democrats.
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In a post on X, California Republicans criticized the state's Democrats, saying, “I'm sad and tired of it that this is even a debate among criminal Democrats.”
