A Missouri Senate bill is seeking to protect minors from being groomed by sexual predators and also strengthen penalties for publishing sexual images without permission.
Missouri does not have a law on the books that specifically criminalizes grooming a minor for sexual purposes. That would change under SB 893, sponsored by Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby. The act of grooming a minor in and of itself for sexual activity would be a Class B felony, and grooming that results in sexual activity or sex trafficking would be a Class A felony.
Several people testified in favor of the bill during a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday. They included Jeff Dixon from Polk County, who said his daughter was groomed by a martial arts instructor who regularly exchanged text messages with her.
“These are 17,000 text messages between a 52-year-old man and teenage girls,” Dixon said. “We have requests for trips to Florida, ultimately running away from his family to be with my daughter and live in Florida to make children.”
His daughter, Evelyn Dixon, also testified.
“When he first came, he seemed friendly, like, everybody loved him,” she said. “But he started noticing me. He started texting me, saying he wanted to run (a) school with me and (it) got to the point he was texting me 24/7, told (me) to call him every day. And (when he was present) in person, he would send my sister into the basement so he could have private ‘Mikey’ time with me.”
Her father also told the committee that Evelyn’s groomer has not been arrested. He testified that the local prosecutor told him that under current law, they don’t think they can win a conviction.
Madison Royer with the group Missourians for Child Protection also offered testimony about her two sisters, who were groomed by a man in his 50’s.
“He forced them to memorize how to get to his house, the passcode to his gate, the passcode to his garage. He did all this legally,” Royer said. “The (Dept. of Social Services) knows his story. They have listened to my sister’s testimony. So has law enforcement. They said because there was no physical sexual abuse, because he didn’t rape them, he didn’t break the law.”
The bill, if passed, would be named Sophie’s Law – who is one of Royer’s two sisters groomed by this man.
Another section of SB 893 would strengthen penalties for publishing sexual images of a person without permission.
Brad Boettler of southwest Missouri’s Aurora also testified in favor of the bill. His 16-year-old son Evan committed suicide two years ago after a cybercriminal enticed him into sending a photo of himself, then threatened to release it publicly.
“The first thread of messages was for hours and demanded money, demanded bank accounts, demanded gift cards,” Boettler said. “If he didn’t turn this stuff over, (he was told) that his life was basically going to be ruined.”
This provision of the bill would be named “Evan’s Voice Act.” It would upgrade the publishing of sexual images without consent from a Class D felony to a Class C felony if the image is of a minor or vulnerable person.
No one testified against the bill during Wednesday’s hearing.
The State Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee has not yet voted on the bill.
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