A bill that could impose longer prison terms for “grooming” children for sexual abuse or exploitation was tabled Tuesday but could resurface in October.
The Joint Judiciary Committee decided to reconsider the bill draft at its next meeting on Oct. 13, after committee leaders and members concluded Tuesday at their public meeting in Casper that the draft wasn’t yet fit for the committee to sponsor.
As it reads now, the draft would make it a felony to manipulate a minor into engaging in sexual conduct; coerce a minor under 16 to meet in person to engage in sexual conduct; offer sexually-explicit material to minors or exploit a position of authority to develop “an intimate or secretive relationship” with a minor.
If the minor is under 12 and the perpetrator is an adult, the penalty for grooming would be no fewer than 25 years in prison, and a maximum of life, plus fines.
If the minor is under 16, the crime is punishable by no fewer than four years in prison, maximum of life, plus fines. That one would apply to 17-year-old perpetrators, under the wording of the bill.
And in all other cases involving grooming of minors up to the age of 17, the perpetrator could face up to 10 years in prison and fines.
Wyoming doesn't have a grooming law currently, though it does have laws against child sexual exploitation.
Romeo And Juliet
State Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, said he agrees with the spirit of the bill, but disagreed with turning an 18-year-old who texts sexual content to his or her 17-year-old dating partner into felons.
“I want to point out that that’s what this bill will do,” said Crago, adding that the bill wouldn’t pass unless lawmakers fixed that issue.
Rep. Jayme Lien, R-Casper, said she’d be willing to work with Crago to fix that.
Committee Co-Chair Sen. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, asked the committee’s staffer to look at age-gap wording in Wyoming’s other criminal laws, and the staffer agreed to do that.
Co-Chair Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, offered to table the bill until October, and other committee members agreed.
Context, Context
In Wyoming law currently, a person over age 20 who engages in sexual contact with a 16- or 17-year-old can face up to five years in prison, if the perpetrator is more than four years older than the victim.
That’s half the penalty of the least-severe grooming penalty the new bill contemplates.
A person over 16 who molests someone under 13 can face up to 50 years in prison. A 25-year minimum would apply to that same prison sentence only if the perpetrator was 21 or older.
That would make the potential penalty for grooming an 11-year-old, under the bill, more severe than the penalty for molesting an 11-year-old.
Stalking Bill Advances
A bill to charge adults who stalk minors with felons advanced Tuesday, after a woman gave tearful testimony about being stalked her entire adult life. She had to shut down her real estate business, and she’s suffered extensive trauma, the woman said.
Felony stalking is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Prompting the bill is a different case, that of Glenrock teen Gillian Holman, who was stalked for several months by a 41-year-old woman.
Holman and her mother watched the meeting Tuesday.
The committee members considered adding a fine of up to $10,000 to all stalking felonies, including this proposed new one, but they ultimately rejected that amendment.
But that doesn’t matter:
A different law already in Wyoming’s criminal statutes says that felonies with no fine amount attached to them shall carry a fine of up to $10,000. That applies to the stalking felonies.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
