BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 832
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
832 (Cristina Garcia)
As Amended April 16, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+----------------------+---------------------|
|Public Safety |5-2 |Quirk, Gonzalez, |Melendez, Lackey |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Low, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |10-5 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Garcia, Holden, |Wagner |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Weber, | |
| | |Wood | |
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SUMMARY: Provides that "sexual assault" for purposes of reporting
incidents of abuse under the Child Abuse Neglect and Reporting Act
(CANRA) does not include voluntary acts of sodomy, oral
copulation, or sexual penetration, unless it involves a person who
is 21 years of age or older engaging in these acts with a minor
who is under 16 years of age.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes CANRA for the purpose of protecting children from
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abuse and neglect.
2)Defines "child" under CANRA to mean a person under the age of 18
years.
3)Enumerates categories of persons who are mandated reporters
under CANRA.
4)Requires, except as provided, a mandated reporter to make a
report to a specified agency whenever the mandated reporter, in
his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or
her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the
mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the
victim of child abuse or neglect. The mandated reporter shall
make an initial report to the agency immediately or as soon as
is practicably possible by telephone and shall prepare and send,
fax, or electronically transmit a written follow up report
within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the
incident. The mandated reporter may include with the report any
nonprivileged documentary evidence the mandated reporter
possesses relating to the incident.
5)Defines "reasonable suspicion" to mean that it is objectively
reasonable for a person to entertain a suspicion, based upon the
facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position,
drawing, when appropriate, on his or her training and
experience, to suspect child abuse or neglect.
6)Provides that any mandated reporter who fails to report an
incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect
as required by this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by up to six months confinement in a county jail or
by a fine of $1,000 or by both that imprisonment and fine. If a
mandated reporter intentionally conceals his or her failure to
report an incident known by the mandated reporter to be abuse or
severe neglect under this section, the failure to report is a
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continuing offense until a specified agency discovers the
offense.
7)Defines "child abuse or neglect" under CANRA to include physical
injury or death inflicted by other than accidental means upon a
child by another person, sexual abuse as defined, neglect as
defined, the willful harming or injuring of a child or the
endangering of the person or health of a child as defined, and
unlawful corporal punishment or injury as defined.
8)States that "sexual abuse" means sexual assault or sexual
exploitation.
9)Defines "sexual assault" as conduct in violation of one or more
of the following crimes: rape, statutory rape involving a person
who is 21 years of age or older with a minor who is under 16
years of age, rape in concert, incest, sodomy with a person who
is under 18 years of age, lewd or lascivious acts upon a child
who is under 14, or who is 14 or 15 years of age by a person who
is at least 10 years older than the child, oral copulation,
sexual penetration, or child molestation, as specified.
10)States that any person 21 years of age or older who engages in
unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is under 16 years
of age is guilty of an alternate felony/misdemeanor punishable
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by
imprisonment in county jail for two, three, or four years.
11)Makes any person over 21 years of age who participates in an
act of sodomy with another person who is under 16 years of age
guilty of a felony, except as provided in provisions of law
related to lewd and lascivious conduct with minors under the age
of 14.
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12)Provides that any person over 21 years of age who participates
in an act of oral copulation with another person who is under 16
years of age is guilty of a felony, except as provided in
provisions of law related to lewd and lascivious conduct with
minors under the age of 14.
13)States, except as provided in provisions of law related to lewd
and lascivious conduct with minors under the age of 14, any
person over 21 years of age who participates in an act of sexual
penetration with another person who is under 16 years of age
shall be guilty of a felony.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "AB 832 creates a clear,
uniform, and non-discriminatory standard for mandated reporters to
follow when reporting instances of consensual sexual expressions
amongst minors. Clear and consistent reporting requirements would
ensure that reporters are more confident and knowledgeable about
what needs to be reported and result in increased safety for our
youth.
"AB 832 would treat all consensual sexual activity the same way
that sexual intercourse is treated for the purposes of child abuse
reporting. All activity that is exploitive or coercive in nature
would remain a mandated report."
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0000255
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