California lawmakers in the Assembly Public Safety Committee are blocking a proposal that would make it a felony to purchase sex with 16 and 17-year-olds.
Assemblyman Nick Shultz, the Democratic chairman of the committee, confirmed AB 379, a bill to crack down on the consumers of the child sex trafficking industry, will move forward on Tuesday, but without the proposed felony charge.
The blocking effort is the latest chapter in a saga that began in 2023. As Breitbart News reported at the time, Republican State Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) had introduced a bill to make sex trafficking of minors a “serious felony.” It passed unanimously in the State Senate, but Democrats on the State Assembly’s Public Safety Committee blocked the bill, since they did not want to increase criminal penalties generally.
Faced with public embarrassment, Democrats struck a deal in 2024 with Grove, under which the bill would advance but only if it was limited to victims under the age of 16. Now, a Democrat, State Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), is trying to make trafficking minors aged 16 and 17 a felony, too — and fellow Democrats are refusing to allow the bill to advance.
Sacramento-area NBC affiliate KCRA reported Monday:
California lawmakers in the Assembly Public Safety Committee are blocking a proposal that would make it a felony to purchase 16 and 17-year-old children for sex.
Assemblyman Nick Shultz, the Democratic chairman of the committee, confirmed AB 379, a bill to crack down on the consumers of the child sex trafficking industry, will move forward on Tuesday, but without the proposed felony charge.
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“My perspective as chair, there was a carefully crafted deal last year,” Shultz said. “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.”
The proposed bill, even without the provisions that Democrats on the Public Safety Committee are blocking, will roll back some of a bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed in 2022 that prevented police from arresting prostitutes for loitering — a bill that led to an explosion of street prostitution, including child sex trafficking.
“It’s a disgrace,” Krell told KCRA 3 when asked about what happened to her bill.
“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,” Krell said.
She said her bill was pulled from the Assembly Public Safety Committee’s agenda last week after expecting it to be heard on Tuesday.
“I was told that it was pulled and the only way I could get it back on the agenda is if parts of the bill would be blocked,” Krell said.
