Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke out Tuesday in support of a law that called for increased penalties for felony for recruiting 16 or 17-year-olds for California sex after a state legislative Democrats sprinkled water on the bill.
“The law should address all sexual predators who solicit minors as felonies, regardless of the age of the intended victim,” Newsom said in a statement originally provided to the KCRA. “Full stop.”
It is unusual for a Democratic governor to take his position before the bill reaches his desk, but Newsom has been inserted several times into the legislative process to support an increase in penalties for sexual offences against minors who oppose his own party members.
The bill aimed to make sexually seeking people under the age of 18 a felony, with the aim of purchasing gender and building it under existing state law.
Currently, in California, paying gender with minors under the age of 16 is a felony. State law also strengthens felony penalties for sex trafficking of minors under the age of 18.
Democrats declined to hear the proposal at a Public Safety Commission hearing Tuesday unless Congress members of Maggie Cler (D-Sacramento), who carried the bill, agreed to remove felony charges by recruiting 16 and 17 years olds from the bill.
Action from Democrats has influenced a wave of criticism about the party’s priorities in hearings and social media.
“These are girls, and these are people who say our society should do everything we can to protect,” MP Tom Lucky (R-Palmdale) said at the hearing. “So why are we protecting predators?”
Democrats defended the decision and said they would hold additional hearings on the topic in the future.
Source link
