By: Huffman S.B. No. 344
(In the Senate - Filed January 23, 2015; February 2, 2015,
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
March 25, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
Nays 0; March 25, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offense of online solicitation
of a minor.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 33.021(a)(1), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Minor" means:
(A) an individual who is [represents himself or
herself to be] younger than 17 years of age; or
(B) an individual whom the actor believes to be
younger than 17 years of age.
SECTION 2. Section 33.021, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (d), and (e) to read as follows:
(b) A person who is 17 years of age or older commits an
offense if, with the intent to commit an offense listed in Article
62.001(5)(A), (B), or (K), Code of Criminal Procedure [arouse or
gratify the sexual desire of any person], the person, over the
Internet, by electronic mail or text message or other electronic
message service or system, or through a commercial online service,
intentionally:
(1) communicates in a sexually explicit manner with a
minor; or
(2) distributes sexually explicit material to a minor.
(d) It is not a defense to prosecution under Subsection (c)
that[:
[(1)] the meeting did not occur[;
[(2) the actor did not intend for the meeting to occur;
or
[(3) the actor was engaged in a fantasy at the time of
commission of the offense].
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
at the time conduct described by Subsection [(b) or] (c) was
committed:
(1) the actor was married to the minor; or
(2) the actor was not more than three years older than
the minor and the minor consented to the conduct.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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