Gov. Gavin Newsom and California legislative leaders are trying to broker a deal over a Republican bill strengthening penalties for child sex traffickers after Democrats killed the measure in committee.
Senate Bill 14 from Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, on Tuesday failed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee after all six Democrats abstained from voting. The two Republican Assembly members on the committee, Juan Alanis of Modesto and Tom Lackey of Palmdale, both voted in support.
Her legislation calls for classifying the human trafficking of a minor as a serious felony under state law. A key provision of the measure would make child sex trafficking a strike under California’s Three Strikes law — a controversial sentencing strategy that significantly increases prison sentences for repeat offenders of serious felonies.
