Delaware 151st General Assembly (2021-2022) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 13 D · 6 R cosponsors

SB 307 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 02, 2022. Enacted.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 98% · high confidence
  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 26 sponsors

    4 primary, 22 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (13 D · 6 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 3 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This bill reflects the reality that “grooming” children for the purpose of committing crimes of sexual violence against them is often preceded by conduct that perpetrators know will make the child particularly susceptible to abuse. The bill requires proof that a person has engaged in three or more specific instances of conduct proscribed by the statute. Each of these predicate acts would not otherwise be considered criminal conduct, so the bill requires proof of a pattern of conduct aimed at a specific outcome. By outlawing “grooming,” the State will be explicitly empowered to stop a predator who engages in certain conduct with the intent to entice, persuade, induce, or coerce a child into participating in a sexual act with the perpetrator. A conviction for “grooming” is a stand-alone offense and is a felony punishable by up to 3 years in jail.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

57 added · 13 removed

57 line(s) added, 13 removed.

→
Previous
Latest
Rep.
Sen.
Longhurst HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.
Poore & Rep.
1 TO SENATE BILL NO.
Longhurst & Rep.
307 AMEND Senate Bill No.
Griffith & Sen.
307 on line 1 by deleting “chapter” where it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof “section”.
Brown Sens.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No.
Bonini, Ennis, Gay, Hansen, Hocker, Lawson, Lockman, Lopez, Mantzavinos, S.
307 by deleting line 33 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
McBride, Paradee, Pettyjohn, Richardson, Sokola, Sturgeon, Townsend, Walsh, Wilson;
“(f) Enticement for purposes of sexual contact is a class F felony.”.
Reps.
SYNOPSIS This Amendment corrects the name of the crime in the penalty provision.
Baumbach, Dukes, K.
This amendment also makes a technical correction to the Act.
Johnson, K.
HD :
Williams DELAWARE STATE SENATE 151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE BILL NO.
MS :
307 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.
MAW Page 1 of 1 Released:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
06/29/2022 06:36 PM 2141510803
Section 1.
Amend Title 11 of the Delaware Code by adding a new chapter 1112C and by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 1112C.
Enticement for Purposes of Sexual Contact (a) A person is guilty of enticement if the person, being 18 years of age or older and at least 4 years older than a child, knowingly engages in a course of conduct to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce that involves or results in the person gaining access to and time alone with that child, with the intent of building trust with that child for the purpose of ultimately engaging in sexual contact or penetration with that child.
(b) For purposes of this section, “child” means any individual who is younger than 18 years of age.
(c) For purposes of this section, “a course of conduct” means three or more separate incidents that a reasonable person would find inappropriate, in isolation or collectively, given the nature and circumstances of the relationship between the person and the child, including:
(1) Showing, offering, or sending the child sexually explicit materials, including images, videos, audio recordings, or any other depiction of sexual activity;
(2) Exposing the child to sexually explicit language or jokes;
(3) Making comments to the child about his or her sexual or physical development;
(4) Bathing the child;
(5) Walking in on the child changing his or her clothes or using the toilet, or watching the child do either;
(6) Asking the child to watch an adult change clothes or use the toilet;
(7) Taking pictures of or videorecording the child while the child is nude or wearing only underwear;
(8) Wrestling the child in underwear or while nude;
SD :
KB :
ALW Page 1 of 2 Released:
06/01/2022 02:43 PM (9) Tickling the child;
(10) Playing games with the child that involve touching genitalia;
(12) Buying the child gifts that are not in celebration of a holiday or birthday;
(13) Giving special privileges to the child, such as car rides to or from school or practices;
or (14) Committing any sexual offense, as defined in Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Part D of this Title, or any attempt or solicitation to commit any such sexual offense, against the child;
(d) A conviction is not required for any predicate act relied upon to establish a course of conduct.
A conviction for any predicate act relied upon to establish a course of conduct does not preclude prosecution under this section.
Nothing in this section shall preclude a separate charge, conviction and sentence for any other crime set forth in this title, or in the Delaware Code.
(e) For the purposes of this section, it is not a defense to prosecution that no sexual contact or penetration actually occurred.
(f) Grooming is a class F felony.
Show all 50 changed rows (10 more)
Previous
Latest
SYNOPSIS This bill reflects the reality that “grooming” children for the purpose of committing crimes of sexual violence against them is often preceded by conduct that perpetrators know will make the child particularly susceptible to abuse.
The bill requires proof that a person has engaged in three or more specific instances of conduct proscribed by the statute.
Each of these predicate acts would not otherwise be considered criminal conduct, so the bill requires proof of a pattern of conduct aimed at a specific outcome.
By outlawing “grooming,” the State will be explicitly empowered to stop a predator who engages in certain conduct with the intent to entice, persuade, induce, or coerce a child into participating in a sexual act with the perpetrator.
A conviction for “grooming” is a stand-alone offense and is a felony punishable by up to 3 years in jail.
Author:
Senator Poore SD :
KB :
ALW Page 2 of 2 Released:
06/01/2022 02:43 PM 2711510032
View plain text versions (2)

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  3. Passed By House. Votes: 36 YES 4 NO 1 ABSENT

  4. Amendment HA 1 to SB 307 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  5. Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 4 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits

  6. Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

  7. Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT

  8. Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 5 On Its Merits

  9. Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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4 sponsors · 22 co-sponsors · 36 not signed on · 4 voted No

Sponsors (4)

Not signed on (36)

36 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 36 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

2/3

Passed 21 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 5000
Democratic 11000
Republican 5000
Total 21000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Colin Bonini — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
Kyle Evans Gay — Yea
Sarah McBride — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 36 Yea · 4 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 12100
Republican 10101
Democratic 14200
Total 36401
% of votes cast 88%10%0%2%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Andria L. Bennett — Yea
Charles "Bud" M. Freel — Yea
David Bentz — Yea
John A. Kowalko — Nay
John L. Mitchell — Yea
Michael Ramone — Yea
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — Yea
Ruth Briggs King — Yea
Sean Matthews — Yea
Sherry Dorsey Walker — Yea
Stephen Smyk — Yea
Valerie Longhurst — Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Eric Morrison Democratic Nay
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Yea
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Nay
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Sherae'a Moore Democratic Yea
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Yea
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Not Voting
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Yea
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Nay
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Shannon Morris Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 19 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 5000
Democratic 10001
Republican 4001
Total 19002
% of votes cast 90%0%0%10%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Colin Bonini — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
Kyle Evans Gay — Yea
Sarah McBride — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Not Voting
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Not Voting
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 307 do?
This bill reflects the reality that “grooming” children for the purpose of committing crimes of sexual violence against them is often preceded by conduct that perpetrators know will make the child particularly susceptible to abuse. The bill requires proof that a person has engaged in three or more specific instances of conduct proscribed by the statute. Each of these predicate acts would not otherwise be considered criminal conduct, so the bill requires proof of a pattern of conduct aimed at a specific outcome. By outlawing “grooming,” the State will be explicitly empowered to stop a predator who engages in certain conduct with the intent to entice, persuade, induce, or coerce a child into participating in a sexual act with the perpetrator. A conviction for “grooming” is a stand-alone offense and is a felony punishable by up to 3 years in jail.
Who sponsors SB 307?
SB 307 is sponsored by Valerie Longhurst, Nicole Poore (Democratic), Darius J. Brown (Democratic), Krista Griffith (Democratic), Stephanie L. Hansen (Democratic), Gerald W. Hocker (Republican), Dave G. Lawson (Republican), S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Spiros Mantzavinos (Democratic), Trey Paradee (Democratic), Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), Bryant L. Richardson (Republican), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Laura V. Sturgeon (Democratic), Bryan Townsend (Democratic), John "Jack" Walsh (Democratic), David L. Wilson (Republican), Timothy D. Dukes (Republican), Kendra Johnson (Democratic), Kimberly Williams (Democratic), Kyle Evans Gay, Paul S. Baumbach, Sarah McBride, Ernesto B Lopez, Bruce C. Ennis, and Colin Bonini.
What is the current status of SB 307?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 02, 2022. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 307?
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