Child grooming is now a crime in Louisiana thanks to a new piece of legislation recently signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry. Louisiana joins several U.S. states in adopting similar anti-grooming laws.
SB 58 was inspired by trauma that hit close to home, says Louisiana Senator Pat Connick, who introduced the bill. For those not familiar with the term, “grooming” refers to the act of adults intentionally gaining a child's trust with the intent to sexually abuse them. For Senator Connick, pushing this bill through became a personal issue.
Connick joined WWL’s Tommy Tucker to discuss how the bill came to pass.
“My son-in-law was a victim of sexual abuse. It doesn’t go away; it’s a tough issue. I have to give him credit for stepping up and telling his story. He’s a hero in my book. Because of him telling his story, it got my attention and we were able to go to Baton Rouge and get this bill passed,” Senator Connick went on to explain.
The bill passed the state’s legislative chambers and now legally defines the act of grooming as “pursuing an intimate relationship with a child under the age of 17 by means of seduction, emotional manipulation, threats, promises, coercion, enticement, isolation, or extortion with the specific intent to commit a sex offense against the minor.”
Before the passage of the bill, parents and members of law enforcement were frustrated because grooming remained a legal grey area.
“The difficulty was charging someone with a crime where they have not yet physically harmed a child. We had to specifically add the language defining what grooming is as ‘pursuing an intimate relationship with a child under the age of 17 by means of seduction, emotional manipulation, threats, promises, coercion, enticement, isolation, or extortion with the specific intent to commit a sex offense against the minor’ and that makes all the difference,” Senator Connick noted to WWL’s Tommy Tucker.
“Before this law, individuals texting young children things of a sexual nature couldn’t be charged with an actual crime. Now it can (be charged as an actual crime) as part of grooming the child into acting on sexual behavior with them further down the road. That’s now part of the law here in Louisiana," Connick adds.
Moving forward, Senator Connick says he hopes the law will deter child predators who would otherwise be able to move closer toward the path of actually abusing a victim. Connick’s son-in-law, who was a victim of grooming and abuse by a member of the clergy as a child, told the Senator, “I couldn’t believe that authorities essentially had to wait until molestation actually occurred.”
Senator Connick’s daughter was the first person to approach him about making grooming an actual crime in the state since the act fell into nebulous legal waters. “Within two days after that conversation with my daughter, I filed the bill. I hope this protects my grandchildren and your grandchildren. All the praise to my daughter and her husband for bringing this issue to light. They're heroes,” Connick emphasized.
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