Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act 2024-11-21 Passed Senate Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act

This bill makes changes to federal criminal laws related to various offenses, particularly sexual abuse offenses against minors.

The bill revises the federal kidnapping statute by specifying that obtaining a victim by defrauding or deceiving a third party constitutes the offense of kidnapping. Additionally, for a kidnapping offense that involves a victim who has not attained the age of 16, the bill specifies that it is not a defense that the victim consented to the conduct of the offender, unless the offender establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the offender reasonably believed that the victim had attained the age of 16.

The bill also revises statutes related to sexual abuse offenses against minors to specify the following:

  • that crossing international lines with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child who has not attained the age of 12 constitutes aggravated sexual abuse (currently, the statute only references crossing state lines),
  • that the offense of sexual abuse of a minor also includes knowingly causing the intentional touching of any person by a person who has not attained the age of 16, and
  • that attempting to commit abusive sexual contact is also a crime that is subject to the same penalty as the completed offense.
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