BILL NUMBER: AB 1490 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 14, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 8, 1996
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 1995
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Caldera
FEBRUARY 24, 1995
An act to amend Section 261.5 of , and to add Section
261.4 to the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1490, as amended, Caldera. Unlawful sexual intercourse: civil
penalties.
Existing law prohibits and prescribes punishments for unlawful
sexual intercourse with a minor.
This bill would also make liable for civil penalties an adult who
impregnates engages in an act of unlawful
sexual intercourse with a minor in violation of these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Teenage
Pregnancy Prevention Act of 1995.
SEC. 2. Section 261.4 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
261.4.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Illicit sexual activity between adult males and teenage or
younger girls in this state is resulting in the nation's highest
teenage pregnancy and birth rate in the nation .
In California, females under the age of 18 years gave birth to 28,065
children in 1994. Sixty-six percent of the fathers of those
children were adult males, and 10,768 of those fathers were between
the ages of 20 and 29 years. Many of these adult males are repeat
offenders who have fathered more than one child by different teenage
mothers, yet accept little or no responsibility for their actions or
for the support of their children. The teenage birth rate and the
number of teen pregnancies and births attributed to adult male
fathers have risen significantly and consistently since 1982. In the
United States, one in every 16 girls between the ages of 15 and 19
years has a child. In California, one in every eight children is
born to a teenage mother.
(b) California spent $3.08 billion in 1985 to assist families
headed by teenagers. If those births had been delayed until the
mothers were at least 20 years old, the state would have saved $1.23
billion in welfare and health care expenses.
(c) Society can no longer ignore the disregard of statutory rape
laws and the consequent increase in teenage pregnancies. The laws
prohibiting adults from having sexual relations with persons under
the age of 18 years must be more vigorously enforced. Adult males
who prey upon minor girls must be held accountable for their conduct
and accept responsibility for their actions.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that district attorneys
vigorously investigate and prosecute adults guilty of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor, particularly where that unlawful sexual
intercourse results in pregnancy. It is also the intent of the
Legislature to create civil liability for adults who engage in
unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor to help fund future efforts
to prevent teenage pregnancy and deter adult sexual predators from
victimizing minor girls.
SEC. 3. Section 261.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
261.5. (a) Unlawful sexual intercourse is an act of sexual
intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the
perpetrator, if the person is a minor. For the purposes of this
section, a "minor" is a person under the age of 18 years and an
"adult" is a person who is at least 18 years of age.
(b) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is not more than three years older or
three years younger than the perpetrator, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who engages in an act of unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor who is more than three years younger than
the perpetrator is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and
shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
(d) Any person over the age of 21 years who engages in an act of
unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is under 16 years of age
is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and shall be punished
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by
imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an
adult who engages in an act of sexual intercourse with a minor in
violation of this section shall may be
liable for civil penalties in the following amounts:
(A) An adult who impregnates engages in an
act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor less than two
years younger than the adult is liable for a civil penalty not to
exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000).
(B) An adult who impregnates engages in an
act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at least two
years younger than the adult is liable for a civil penalty not to
exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(C) An adult who impregnates engages in an
act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at least three
years younger than the adult is liable for a civil penalty not to
exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(D) An adult over the age of 21 years who impregnates
engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with
a minor under 16 years of age is liable for a civil penalty not
to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
(2) The district attorney may bring actions to recover civil
penalties pursuant to this subdivision. From the amounts collected
for each case, an amount equal to the costs of pursuing the action
shall be deposited with the treasurer of the county in which the
judgment was entered, and the remainder shall be deposited in the
Underage Pregnancy Prevention Fund, which is hereby created in the
State Treasury. Amounts deposited in the Underage Pregnancy
Prevention Fund may be used only for the purpose of preventing
underage pregnancy upon appropriation by the Legislature.