California Legislature Passes Bill to Bring Equality for Gay and Lesbian Statutory Rapists With Heterosexual Statutory Rapists

California lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would permit adults who have oral or anal sex with a child between the ages of 14-17 to potentially avoid having to register as a sex offender – if the adult is within 10 years of the age of the victim.

The age of consent in California is 18.

Lawmakers want adults who perform oral and anal sex on underage teens to have the same rules applied as if they had penile-vaginal sex.

Under existing California law, a judge has the right to not require a statutory rapist to register as a sex offender if the adult and victim are within 10 years of each other and the sex offense is male-female sexual intercourse.

If the adult rapist has anal or oral sex with the teen, however, even within the 10 year age difference, the current law offers the judge no option but to require the adult to register as a sex offender.

Lawmakers say the current law is prejudicial to gay and lesbian statutory rapists.

One can see how an injustice could occur: Presently in California, a man who is 24, who has heterosexual intercourse with a 14 year old girl might be exempted from having to register as a sex offender if the judge so chooses.

But, as the law stands now, if a 19 year old had anal sex with a 17 year old, the judge does not have the discretion to waive the requirement for sex registry for the 19 year old.

The bill would make vaginal, anal and oral sex equal under the statutory rape law.

It now heads to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) where he must decide whether to sign it.

Read the bill SB 145.

State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks at a demolition ceremony for the Vallco Shopping Mall, Thursday, Oct.11, 2018, in Cupertino, Calif. Wiener's SB 35 bill was used to help usher along a new development for the site. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

State Sen. Scott Wiener proposed a bill that would bring equal rights regardless of type of sex to statutory rapists. 

In short, SB 145 eliminates automatic sex offender registration for adults who have anal or oral sex with a minor. Instead, a judge would make the decision, just as they do now in cases involving vaginal intercourse.  SB 145 would apply only to cases involving minors between the ages of 14-17, and an offender within a 10-year range.

It remains illegal under California law for any adult to have sex with a minor.

The bill was introduced by State Sen. Scott Wiener (D), D-San Francisco, who claims the current law discriminates against LGBT [rapists] who do not engage in penile-vaginal intercourse with underage children.

Wiener said. “This bill is about treating everyone equally under the law. Discrimination against LGBT people is simply not the California way.”

See AP article explaining the Bill “Bill Would Not Legalize Pedophilia in California.”

“The bill is the subject of a massive misinformation campaign by MAGA/QAnon,” Wiener posted.

The origins of SB 145

Wiener said he is not promoting or defending statutory rape, he says, but is looking to end unfair sex offender registry for same sex statutory rape when the difference in ages are slight, as it often occurs for heterosexual statutory rape.

Wiener said, “A 19-year-old has a 17-year-old girlfriend and they have sex, that is statutory rape. But the law right now says that the judge does not have to put that 19-year-old boy on the sex offender registry because of the kind of sex that they were having. But if it’s a 19-year-old boy having sex with a 17-year-old boyfriend, the judge must put that 19-year-old onto the sex offender registry, even if it was completely consensual, even if they were boyfriends, even if there was nothing coercive or predatory about it.”

SB 145 would give judges the same discretion they currently have in cases involving vaginal sex.