Overview

• The amended AB-379 allows felony charges against adults soliciting sex from 16- and 17-year-olds if the offender is at least three years older than the minor.
• Offenders within a three-year age difference will face misdemeanor charges under the revised legislation.
• The bill introduces state-funded grants to enhance the prosecution of human trafficking cases and establishes a survivor support fund, financed by fines on businesses complicit in trafficking.
• Assembly Democrats initially removed felony provisions for older teens but reinstated them after criticism from Republicans and a public rebuke by Governor Gavin Newsom.
• The legislation reflects ongoing debates over balancing harsher penalties for child sex crimes with concerns about equitable enforcement and potential impacts on marginalized communities.