85R5909 JRR-D
By: Dale, Capriglione, Burkett H.B. No. 2974
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain sexual offenses; creating a criminal offense;
increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.16(g), Penal Code, as added by
Chapter 852 (S.B. 1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(g) An offense under this section is a state jail felony
[Class A misdemeanor].
SECTION 2. Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 21.18 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.18. SEXUAL COERCION. (a) In this section:
(1) "Intimate visual material" means the visual
material described by Section 21.16(b)(1) or (c), as added by
Chapter 852 (S.B. 1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2015.
(2) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by
Section 43.25.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense
under Chapter 43 or Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8), 21.02,
21.08, 21.11, 21.12, 21.15, 21.16, as added by Chapter 852 (S.B.
1135), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, 21.16,
as added by Chapter 676 (H.B. 207), Acts of the 84th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2015, 22.011, or 22.021 to obtain, in return for
not committing the threatened offense or in connection with the
threatened offense, any of the following benefits:
(1) intimate visual material;
(2) an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or
gratification; or
(3) a monetary benefit or other benefit of value.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense
under Chapter 19 or 20 or Section 20A.02(a)(1), (2), (5), or (6) to
obtain, in return for not committing the threatened offense or in
connection with the threatened offense, either of the following
benefits:
(1) intimate visual material; or
(2) an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or
gratification.
(d) This section applies to a threat regardless of how that
threat is communicated, including a threat transmitted through
e-mail or an Internet website, social media account, or chat room
and a threat made by other electronic or technological means.
(e) An offense under this section is a state jail felony,
except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if it is
shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant has previously
been convicted of an offense under this section.
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 was
committed before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.