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Senate declines to advance proposed criminal statute on harmful communications to minors; bill indefinitely postponed
Summary
House Bill 189, proposing a new criminal offense for certain patterns of obscene communication with minors, failed to pass the Committee of the Whole after extended debate about drafting, constitutional risk and overlap with existing statutes; the bill was deemed indefinitely postponed.
House Bill 189, which would create a new criminal offense for certain patterns of obscene or sexually explicit communications with minors, was debated vigorously in the Senate Committee of the Whole on Feb. 21 and ultimately failed to pass. The committee recorded a roll-call vote and the bill was indefinitely postponed.
Senator Hutchings, who explained the bill to the chamber, said the measure was intended to give law enforcement an additional tool to prosecute adults who use repeated electronic or written communication to target minors for sexual purposes.…
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