124th Morrison Congress

1st Session

S. 124-015
Title of the Bill:

Juvenile Sexual Abuse Act

Main Author(s):

Senator Daniel Hou (R-CA)

Co-Sponsor(s):
BE IT ENACTED BY THE MORRISON CONGRESS
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SECTION 1: Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
1) As of 2006, 23 percent of all sexual assault offenders were under the
age of 18 according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
2) Juveniles account for more than one-third (35.6%) of those known to
law enforcement to have committed sex offenses against other minors.
3) Juveniles are more likely to target children under the age of twelve
than adults.
4) Only under circumstances depending on a minors prior criminal
history and whether force (a rape crime) was involved can a minor be
prosecuted in adult criminal court.
SECTION 2: Purpose
This bill provides that minors who are knowledgeable of their actions be required to
serve the same sentence as that of an adult for sexual crimes.
SECTION 3: General Provisions
This act will require that all minors above the age of 14 be tried as an adult in court
for all cases of sexual abuse, offense, or assault. This will take away the
possibility of juveniles serving shorter sentences or merely serving sentences in
custody of a juvenile justice facility, home probation, or paying a fine.
Minors are allowed different penalties for their actions than adults due to the fact that
their actions are considered childish mistakes and therefore should not be held
responsibility to a degree of having their entire future ruined. However, children
above the age of 14 are all well aware of their actions already, and are
knowledgeable of the power they have over kids just a few years younger than
themselves. They are even more likely than adults to harm innocent children in
terms of sexual crimes. Minors aged 15 to 18 should not have different
sentences than adults just a few years older when they have reached the nearly
the same point in development and can be just as dangerous.
SECTION 4: Definitions

Works Cited:
http://www.wksexcrimes.com/practice-areas/child-on-child-sexual-abuse/
https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/us0907/7.htm