This bill establishes a new felony offense for grooming a minor for a sexual offense. Grooming is the deliberate process predators use to manipulate, isolate, and prepare children for sexual exploitation, often long before any physical abuse occurs. Existing laws tend to focus on completed acts or explicit attempts. This bill targets the dangerous preparatory conduct that enables those crimes to happen in the first place.

The bill is narrowly aimed at predatory behavior rather than ordinary interactions between adults and minors. It requires a pattern of conduct and a clear criminal intent to manipulate, coerce, distribute explicit material, or exploit a position of authority for sexual purposes. It also includes an age-gap safeguard to avoid criminalizing peer relationships. These elements help limit overreach and focus enforcement on genuinely dangerous actors.

The bill treats grooming as a serious felony, reflecting the real-world harm caused by manipulation and psychological coercion, even before physical abuse occurs. It prioritizes child protection and family safety, holds sexual predators accountable early in the process, and recognizes that waiting until a child is physically harmed is not a responsible public safety standard. While the penalties are severe, they are calibrated based on the vulnerability of the victim, with stronger penalties for younger children, aligning punishment with risk and harm.

This bill is about public safety: protect children, support families, intervene before irreversible harm occurs, and draw clear legal lines against predatory conduct without redefining normal adult-minor relationships.