Failure of Child Sex Trafficking Bill in California Assembly Committee Sparks Outrage

A bill to strengthen penalties for repeat offenders convicted of sexually trafficking children failed to pass the Assembly Public Safety Committee July 11, with only the two Republican members voting in favor of the measure. Authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Senate Bill 14 passed the Senate with unanimous bipartisan support and would have added repeat sexual trafficking of a minor to the state’s list of “serious” felonies, making the crime a strikeable offense under California’s Three Strikes law—passed in 1994 and mandating sentences of 25 years to life for...