| 1 | 1 | | 89R16349 MEW-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Lowe H.B. No. 4672 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to increasing the criminal penalty for continuous sexual |
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| 10 | 10 | | abuse of a child who is younger than 14 years of age. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Section 21.02, Penal Code, is amended by |
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| 13 | 13 | | amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsection (i) to read as |
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| 14 | 14 | | follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (h) Except as provided by Subsection (i), an [An] offense |
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| 16 | 16 | | under this section is a felony of the first degree, punishable by |
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| 17 | 17 | | imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, |
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| 18 | 18 | | or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (i) An offense under this section is a felony of the first |
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| 20 | 20 | | degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of |
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| 21 | 21 | | Criminal Justice for life without parole if at least one act of |
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| 22 | 22 | | sexual abuse was committed against a victim who is younger than 14 |
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| 23 | 23 | | years of age as described by Subsection (b)(2)(A). If the jury is |
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| 24 | 24 | | the trier of fact, members of the jury must agree unanimously that |
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| 25 | 25 | | the defendant committed an act of sexual abuse against a victim who |
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| 26 | 26 | | is younger than 14 years of age as described by Subsection |
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| 27 | 27 | | (b)(2)(A). |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 29 | 29 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 30 | 30 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 31 | 31 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 32 | 32 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 33 | 33 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 34 | 34 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 35 | 35 | | before that date. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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