118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 724
AN ACT
To protect children against sexual abuse and exploitation, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act of 2023
.
Sense of Congress
The sense of Congress is the following:
The safety of children should be a top priority for public officials and communities in the United States.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an individual in the United States is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds. And every 9 minutes, that victim is a child. Meanwhile, only 25 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison.
The effects of child sexual abuse can be long-lasting and affect the victim’s mental health.
Victims are more likely than non-victims to experience the following mental health challenges:
Victims are about 4 times more likely to develop symptoms of drug abuse.
Victims are about 4 times more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder as adults.
Victims are about 3 times more likely to experience a major depressive episode as adults.
The criminal justice system should and has acted as an important line of defense to protect children and hold perpetrators accountable.
However, the horrific crimes perpetuated by Larry Nassar demonstrate firsthand the loopholes that still exist in the criminal justice system. While Larry Nassar was found guilty of several State-level offenses, he was not charged federally for his illicit sexual contact with minors, despite crossing State and international borders to commit this conduct.
The Department of Justice has also identified a growing trend of Americans who use charitable or missionary work in a foreign country as a cover for sexual abuse of children.
It is the intent of Congress to prohibit Americans from engaging in sexual abuse or exploitation of minors under the guise of work, including volunteer work, with an organization that affects interstate or foreign commerce, such as an international charity.
Federal law does not require that an abuser’s intention to engage in sexual abuse be a primary, significant, dominant, or motivating purpose of the travel.
Child sexual abuse does not require physical contact between the abuser and the child. This is especially true as perpetrators turn increasingly to internet platforms, online chat rooms, and webcams to commit child sexual abuse.
However, a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found the use of a webcam to engage in sexually provocative activity with a minor did not qualify as sexual activity
.
Congress can address this issue by amending the definition of the term sexual activity to clarify that it does not require interpersonal, physical contact.
It is the duty of Congress to provide clearer guidance to ensure that those who commit crimes against children are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Interstate child sexual abuse
Section 2423 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
in subsection (b), by striking with a motivating purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct with another person
and inserting with intent to engage in any illicit sexual conduct with another person
;
by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (i), respectively;
in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by striking with a motivating purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct
and inserting with intent to engage in any illicit sexual conduct
; and
by inserting after subsection (g), as so redesignated, the following:
Rule of construction
As used in this section, the term intent shall be construed as any intention to engage in illicit sexual conduct at the time of the travel.
.
Abuse under the guise of charity
Section 2423 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 3 of this Act, is amended—
by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
Illicit sexual conduct in connection with certain organizations
Any citizen of the United States or alien admitted for permanent residence who—
is an officer, director, employee, or agent of an organization that affects interstate or foreign commerce;
makes use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce through the connection or affiliation of the person with such organization; and
commits an act in furtherance of illicit sexual conduct through the connection or affiliation of the person with such organization,
;
in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by striking or (d)
and inserting (d), or (e)
; and
in subsection (i), as so redesignated, by striking (f)(2)
and inserting (g)(2)
.
Sexual activity with minors
Section 2427 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting does not require interpersonal physical contact, and
before includes
.
Passed the Senate March 8, 2023.
Secretary