“This is a huge win in the fight to combat child sex trafficking, but the fight is far from over.”
Just days after CA Assembly Democrats voted to gut a bill to make it a felony to purchase 16 and 17 year-old minors for sex, Democratic Speaker Robert Rivas announced that they were reversing course and dropping their opposition to the measure.
In light of this positive development, Asm. Carl DeMaio offers the following statement:
“Last Thursday, California Democrats outrageously opposed a common-sense reform to make purchasing 16 and 17 year-old minors a felony. In the few days that have followed that vote, Democrats have suffered an overwhelming public backlash and rebuke.
I want to thank every Californian who was outraged by last week’s vote and contacted their representative for forcing the Democrats to do the right thing and bring the bill back to the floor. Because of public pressure, purchasing all minors for sex can be treated as a felony crime.
I particularly want to thank Democrat Assemblywoman Maggy Krell for her extraordinary leadership on this issue. She consistently put the interests of these children above politics — and was even willing to buck her own party to do what is right. I hope other Democrats learn from her example of leadership and are willing to do the same on other important reforms in the future.
But let me make it clear: the fight to protect children from sex predators is far from over!
In the coming weeks, we will force a vote to repeal SB 145 (2020) — an outrageous law passed by Democrats that allows an adult to molest a child as young as age 14 and avoid mandatory sex offender registry. SB 145 is an offensive and dangerous law that must be repealed, and the progress we’ve made with AB 379 shows that we can get it done!” – Asm. Carl DeMaio