Originally Published at World Tribune
Outrage is growing over legislation passed by California’s State Assembly which would eliminate automatic sex-offender registration for adults who have voluntary oral or anal sex with 14- to-17-year-olds when the offender is within 10 years of the age of the teenager involved.
SB 145 passed both chambers of the State Assembly with no Republican votes. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the bill.
Under SB 145, automatic sex-offender registration would no longer apply to those convicted of “non-forcible sodomy with a minor, oral copulation with a minor, or sexual penetration with a minor,” according to the bill summary.
Patrick Trueman, president and CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said the legislation would further protect adult offenders, not minors.
“If the concern is a one-year difference between an 18-year-old and a minor about to become an adult, then the law should be confined to that situation, not the extreme situation that the 10-year window provides,” Trueman said.
