# What This Bill Does: Strengthening Laws Against Child Sexual Abuse

This bill makes several changes to federal laws that punish crimes against children, particularly focusing on kidnapping, sexual abuse, and sexual conduct involving minors. The main goal is to close gaps in existing laws and make it harder for offenders to escape prosecution.

One key change involves kidnapping laws. The bill expands the definition of kidnapping to include situations where someone obtains a child through fraud or deception—not just physical force or abduction. This matters because predators sometimes trick children into going with them by lying about who they are or what they're doing. The bill also makes clear that if a child under 16 consents to go somewhere with an adult, that consent is not a valid legal defense unless the adult can prove they genuinely believed the child was at least 16 years old.

The bill also creates a new federal crime specifically targeting intentional sexual touching of children under 16 in certain locations like federal facilities and prisons. This covers unwanted touching of a child's genitals with sexual intent, even if it doesn't rise to the level of a full sexual assault. Additionally, the bill broadens the definition of sexual abuse crimes to include attempts to commit these offenses, meaning someone can be prosecuted even if they don't complete the crime. The bill also expands laws about traveling across state lines for sexual conduct with minors to cover any interstate or foreign travel, not just crossing state borders. These changes make federal child protection laws more comprehensive and harder for offenders to evade through technical loopholes.

To amend title 18, United States Code, to modify provisions relating to kidnapping, sexual abuse, and illicit sexual conduct with respect to minors.

Nehls, Troy E.

This bill makes changes to federal criminal laws related to various offenses, particularly sexual abuse offenses against minors.The bill revises the federal kidnapping statute by specifying that obtaining a victim by defrauding or deceiving a third party constitutes the offense of kidnapping.&nbsp;Additionally, for a kidnapping offense that involves a victim who has not attained the age of 16, the bill specifies that it is not a defense that the victim consented to the conduct of the offender, unless the offender establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the offender reasonably believed that the victim had attained the age of 16.The bill also revises statutes related to sexual abuse offenses against minors to specify the following:<ul><li>that crossing international lines with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child who has not attained the age of 12 constitutes aggravated sexual abuse (currently, the statute only references crossing state lines),</li><li>that the offense of sexual abuse of a minor also includes knowingly causing the intentional touching of any person by a person who has not attained the age of 16, and</li><li>that attempting to commit abusive sexual contact is also a crime that is subject to the same penalty as the completed offense.</li></ul>