SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — The issue of consent turned into a sticking point for a California bill that would have created the crime of sexual exploitation by a member of the clergy, with a key committee opting against voting on the legislation Tuesday, effectively killing it.
State Senator Dave Min, an Irvine Democrat, told the Senate Public Safety Committee that he was willing to work with lawmakers on the language in Senate Bill 894. However, he didn’t want consent to be a defense for someone accused of the crime, given that clergy hold positions of power and children are told to respect them.
“There’s a fundamental power imbalance that makes consent impossible,” Min said.
The bill would have made it a crime for a clergy member to engage in a sex act with an adult congregant. Someone found guilty of the crime would have faced a maximum of six months’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of $1,000, or both.
Speaking in favor of the bill, Dorothy Small said she couldn’t say she was glad to be at the committee hearing. She sang in her church’s choir, calling herself vulnerable when she was approached by a clergy member. Reporting that person only removed him for a week.
“He tried to establish a relationship of trust with me,” Small said.
Lesli Caldwell Houston, with the California Public Defenders Association, urged the committee to oppose the bill. She said it didn’t answer the problems that it attempted to address. She also called it government overreach, pointing to the issue of consent.
Rachel Bogwood, with the American Civil Liberties Union, said she feared the law would be used to criminalize consensual sexual contact.
“Sexual contact between two consenting adults should not be punished,” she said.
Min said he was frustrated with the process his bill had endured. He expressed his desire to work with committee staff, but they only suggested adding consent as a defense. He listed some current examples where consent is not a defense, like sexual contact involving a minor, police officers and people in custody, health facility employees and those in their care, attorneys in some cases with their clients, and correctional officers and inmates.
According to Min, consent isn’t possible because of the power and respect clergy possess. He pushed back against adding it as a defense to his bill.
Given a chance to make a motion on the bill, no committee member offered one.
"Unfortunately, today is a sad day for countless adult survivors of clergy abuse and for California, as SB 894 was held in the Senate Committee on Public Safety Committee,” Min said in a statement. “There are already 13 other states with laws on the books that establish criminal charges for those who abuse their position of power to sexually exploit an adult congregation member. It is a shame that California will not join them in protecting adult survivors.”
In an unrelated vote, the committee chose to advance Senate Bill 1414 — written by state Senator Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield Republican — which in its original form would have increased penalties for solicitation of a minor. It now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Under current law, someone convicted of solicitation of a minor, and knew or should have known the person was a minor, faces two days to a year in jail, a maximum $10,000 fine, or both. Grove’s bill would have removed the requirement that the offender knew the person solicited was a minor, and increase the prison time from two to four years, and add a maximum $25,000 fine.
The state’s public defenders association opposed the legislation in a bill analysis. Current law punishes people who use minors for prostitution, while Grove’s bill sought to impose greater punishment for some people, even if they had no intent to have sex with someone who’s underage.
Grove lamented changes imposed on her bill on X, formerly Twitter.
“Instead of making the buying of kids a felony with prison time, the committee forced me to take amendments I didn’t agree with and watered down my bill to allow a fine or minimum county jail time,” she wrote. “I will be discussing our next steps with our coalition of survivors, advocates, and organizations who are deeply invested in the outcome of this bill.”
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