BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1791
Author: Maienschein (R), et al.
Amended: 5/7/14 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, De Le�n, Knight, Liu, Mitchell,
Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Prostitution: minors
SOURCE : Conference of California Bar Association
DIGEST : This bill provides that where a defendant is
convicted of prostitution in which the person solicited was a
minor, or in which the person who agreed to engage in or engaged
in an act of prostitution was a minor, the offense is punishable
by a misdemeanor jail term of up to one year, a fine of up to
$2,000, or both.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that a minor cannot consent to a sexual act,
including sexual intercourse, oral copulation, sodomy, sexual
CONTINUED
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penetration with a foreign or unknown object, or lewd
conduct.
2. Provides that sexual intercourse with a minor where no
aggravating elements are proved is the crime of "unlawful
sexual intercourse," punishable as follows:
Where the person having intercourse with the minor is no
more than three years older or younger than the minor, the
offense is a misdemeanor, with a maximum jail term of six
months.
Where the person is at least three years older than the
minor, the offense is an alternate felony-misdemeanor
(wobbler), with a maximum misdemeanor term of one year and
a felony jail term of 16 months, two or three years.
Where the person is at least 21 and the minor under 16
years of age, the offense is a wobbler, with a felony jail
term of two, three or four years.
1. Provides that in the absence of aggravating elements each
crime of sodomy, oral copulation or penetration with a
foreign or unknown object with a minor is punishable as
follows:
Where the defendant is over 21 and the minor under 16
years of age, the offense is a felony, with a prison term
of 16 months, two or three years.
In other cases sodomy with a minor is a wobbler, with a
felony prison term of 16 months, two or three years.
1. Provides that where each crime of sodomy, oral copulation or
penetration with a foreign or unknown object with a minor who
is under 14 and the perpetrator is more than 10 years older
than the minor, the offense is a felony, punishable by a
prison term of three, six or eight years.
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2. Provides that sexual intercourse is rape "[w]here a person
is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental
or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and this is
known or reasonably should be known to the perpetrator."
3. Provides that any person who engages in lewd conduct - any
sexually motivated touching or a defined sex act - with a
child under the age of 14 is guilty of a felony, punishable
by a prison term of three, six or eight years. Where the
offense involves force or coercion, the prison term is five,
eight or 10 years.
4. Provides that where any person who engages in lewd conduct
with a child who is 14 or 15 years old, and the person is at
least 10 years older than the child, the person is guilty of
an alternate felony-misdemeanor, punishable by a jail term of
up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, or by a
prison term of 16 months, two or three years and a fine of up
$10,000.
This bill provides that where a defendant is convicted of a
prostitution offense and the person the defendant solicited, or
who agreed to engage in an act of prostitution with the
defendant, is a minor, the misdemeanor offense is punishable by
a jail term of up to one year in the county jail, a fine of up
to $2,000, or both.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/5/14)
Conference of California Bar Association (source)
Alameda County District Attorney
California Catholic Conference
California Police Chiefs Association
Concerned Women for America
Crittenton
The Child Abuse Prevention Center
The Junior League of San Diego
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/5/14)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
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Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Increasing
the maximum sentence to 12 months for soliciting or engaging in
an act of prostitution with a minor will be making important
progress towards addressing the demand for young girls and boys
who are often victims of human trafficking. As many may be
aware, human trafficking is a growing problem across the United
States, including right here in California. The trafficking of
minors is appalling and must be addressed in any way possible to
positively affect all aspects of this terrible practice. We
hope to provide a deterrent with this increased sentence that
may prevent some desire and demand for these young victims of
human trafficking and stop the often forced prostitution of our
vulnerable youth."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : California Attorneys for Criminal
Justice writes, "Current law severely punishes those who solicit
sex with a minor including possible lifetime sex offender
registration. There is no evidence that indicates an increase
in the minimum or maximum fines will have an effect on the
decrease of the commission of these offenses. In fact, there
isn't any proof that suggests that there has been a significant
increase in the commission of the offenses that require an
increase in the penalties for these offenses as provided by this
bill.
"In addition, it is extremely concerning that the definition of
human trafficking continues to broaden, and offenses, such as
soliciting, are being lumped into this broad category. A study
by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice shows that most
minors engaging in prostitution are doing so for survival
purposes to obtain enough money to pay for necessities.
Furthermore, it is often the case that these minors are
recruited by their peers, not pimps or human traffickers."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
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Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk-Silva,
Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada,
Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mansoor, Nazarian, Nestande, Quirk, Vacancy
JG:d 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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