WASHINGTON
– Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) welcomed the unanimous
Senate passage of their legislation to improve justice for young survivors of
sex crimes. The
Preventing
Child Sex Abuse Act strengthens a federal sex tourism prevention law
that prosecutors feared was too vague to convict former USA Gymnastics team
doctor Larry Nassar, who sexually assaulted hundreds of young athletes, some of
which occurred while Nassar had traveled across state and international
borders. The bill also cracks down on the use of foreign charity work as a
cover for child sex abuse schemes and closes gaps in laws to better protect
against secret sexually explicit recordings of minors, as well as non-contact
sexual abuse.
Sens.
Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) are also cosponsors of the
legislation. The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for
consideration.
“Although
we can’t undo the past, we have a duty to ensure that our nation’s laws are
strengthened to prevent future harm from being done. I’m proud to have worked
across the aisle to seek justice for the survivors of child sex crimes and
protect our children from further criminal acts,” Grassley said.
“Parents
across Georgia are increasingly worried about online sexual predators who are
targeting children. Senator Grassley and I brought Republicans and Democrats
together to keep kids safer online and crack down on predators and abusers to
the fullest extent of the law,” Ossoff
said.
Background
In
2017, Nassar was convicted of several state sex offenses, but he was never
charged federally for his illicit sexual contact with minors, despite crossing
state and international lines to commit this conduct. That’s because federal
authorities doubted whether his actions could be federally prosecuted based on
the existing language of the sex trafficking statute.
The
Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act
corrects this issue and strengthens other child sex abuse statutes by:
- Prohibiting
sexual predators from exploiting children during travel by clarifying that
crossing state or international boundaries with the “intent to engage” in
illicit sexual conduct constitutes a sex tourism offense. This provision would
have increased the likelihood of federal charges against Nassar;
- Cracking
down on sexual abuse under the guise of charity work by prohibiting the use of
an affiliation with international charities or organizations to further illicit
sexual conduct;
- Improving
justice for survivors of non-physical sex crimes such as secret video recording
by clarifying that the definition of “sexual activity” doesn’t require physical
contact.
The
legislation also expresses the sense of Congress that the safety of children
should be a top priority for public officials and communities in the United
States, and recognizes that survivors of sexual abuse – particularly children –
carry long-lasting physical and mental trauma. Congress has a duty to clarify
the laws to better protect children and hold predators accountable.
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