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Committee advances bill to criminalize grooming after survivor’s testimony
Summary
The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 8–0 to send HB 23-17 to full judiciary after survivor Hope Burrell Green described decades of grooming and trafficking and legal staff clarified statute-of-limitations mechanics for a new offense.
A House Criminal Justice Subcommittee advanced legislation aimed at criminalizing the preparatory pattern of grooming that often precedes child sexual abuse.
Sponsor Representative Barrett said the bill fills a gap in existing Tennessee law by targeting the deliberate, patterned behaviors—such as access-seeking, isolation, boundary violations and secrecy cultivation—that research identifies as precursors to contact offenses. The committee voted 8–0 to send HB 23-17 as amended to full judiciary.
Hope Burrell Green, who identified herself as a survivor of child trafficking, told the committee: "When I was a child, I was controlled, manipulated, and trafficked for 30 years of my life." She urged members that "trafficking begins with grooming" and said strong grooming laws give prosecutors tools to intervene earlier.
Representatives on both sides of the aisle asked procedural questions about how the new offense would interact with existing statutes and with the statute of limitations. Legal services explained that because the proposal creates a new offense, statute-of-limitations rules will initially fall under general limits for the class of the offense unless the bill explicitly sets different limits. The committee’s legal adviser said some ways of committing the proposed offense would be class B felonies (eight-year limitation) while others could be class C or D felonies with shorter limitations, depending on how the elements are charged.
Representative Powell asked whether the bill would allow prosecutions for ongoing grooming that continues after the bill’s effective date; legal services answered that conduct occurring after the effective date could be charged under the new law. The sponsor said the measure is intended to give prosecutors an earlier tool so law enforcement may act before contact offenses occur.
The committee also heard that existing Tennessee law addresses later-stage offenses (the sponsor cited T.C.A. sections addressing solicitation and transmission of offensive material) but does not criminalize the preparatory grooming patterns the bill targets. The vote to advance came after public testimony and legal clarification; the bill now heads to full judiciary for further consideration.
