Democratic Bill Author Removed From California Child Sex Trafficking Bill After Heated Debate

The author joined with supporters in an attempt to bring back a deleted provision to strengthen penalties for buying 16- and 17-year-olds for sex.

The California Capitol in Sacramento on April 18, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

California Democratic Assemblywoman Maggy Krell, from Sacramento, was removed as author of her own bill on May 1 after she joined Republicans in a renewed attempt to strengthen penalties for buying 16- and 17-year-olds for sex.

The state Assembly voted 55–21 to reject a provision of Assembly Bill 379 that would have made it a felony to solicit or purchase 16- and 17-year-olds for prostitution after that provision was removed from the bill by the public safety committee. The Assembly then voted in favor of the amended bill 56–21.

Krell was replaced as the bill’s author by two of her Democratic colleagues, Assembly Public Safety Chair Nick Schultz from Burbank and Assemblywoman Stephanie Nguyen from Elk Grove.

In comments before the vote on the Assembly floor, Schultz said that the provision from the original bill was not needed.

“Minors of any age in the state of California that are contacted for a sexual purpose, that is punishable by a felony already,” said Schultz, a former deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice (DOJ).

In response, Krell, who is also a former deputy attorney general for the California DOJ, said there is still a loophole in California law when it comes to this particular issue.

“The problem with [the law], which my colleague from Burbank referenced, is it includes a whole host of statutes for contacting a minor, but there’s one that’s missing: prostitution,” she said.

She said she didn’t care whether her name was on the bill, but she said she was concerned that the bill no longer treats 16- and 17-year-olds as victims.

“We need to say loud and clear that if you’re under 18, a child, a minor ... that the person who’s buying that person should be charged with a felony. It’s plain and simple,” she said.

The legislation advanced on April 29 after the provision was removed in a 7–0 vote in the public safety committee.

Democratic Assemblymembers Mia Bonta and LaShae Sharp-Collins abstained from the committee vote. They did not reply to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

At the time, Schultz said there were other concerns about “unintended consequences” of the provision.

“As we’ve heard today and outside of this chamber, there are Californians who are concerned about unintended consequences on young adults and LGBTQIA+ Californians, should it be a felony for 16- and 17-year-olds,” Schultz said before the vote.

The Epoch Times reached out to Schultz and Krell for comment.

Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, from San Francisco, who pushed for the same provision to be removed in a similar bill last year, said on social media on April 30: “Sending an 18 year old high school senior to state prison for offering his 17 year old classmate $20 to fool around isn’t smart criminal justice policy. Yet that’s what some people are effectively advocating in this misleading debate.”

Newsom Criticizes Removal of Provision

In response to the committee vote, California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke out against members of his own party for removing the provision from the bill.

“The law should treat all sex predators who solicit minors the same—as a felony, regardless of the intended victim’s age. Full stop,” the governor’s office said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times on April 30.

The governor’s office said Newsom has been consistent on this issue, pointing to a bill he signed in 2023, Senate Bill 14, that made sex trafficking of minors a strikeable felony offense. The law, put forth by Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove, imposed stricter penalties and sentences for those convicted of human trafficking of a minor for purposes of commercial sex.

In 2024, the governor signed into law Senate Bill 1414, also authored by Grove, which increased penalties for the solicitation of a minor under 16 or a minor under 18 who is being trafficked.

At the time, amendments also excluded 16- and 17-year-olds, which Grove said was disappointing. This year, she co-authored AB 379 with Krell to fix this loophole and to implement penalties for loitering to purchase sex and fund survivor support.

Democratic committee leaders again removed the provisions that would have made purchasing older minors a felony.

“They did that to my bill last year,” Grove told The Epoch Times on May 1. “They excluded 16- and 17-year-olds from the felony provisions, treating them like adults, which is completely absurd.”

Republican Assemblyman Juan Alanis, vice chair of the public safety committee, who co-authored the sex trafficking bills both this year and last year, said he had “never been more angry and disturbed by actions taken on the Assembly Floor” on May 1.

“Purchasing or trafficking any minor of any age for sex should be a felony. Period,” he said in an emailed statement.

The public safety committee plans to schedule an informational hearing in the fall to discuss the felony provision, according to Schultz.