A Report on California

The Golden State

California Senate Bill 145

California is known as 'The Golden State' due to the Gold Rush that happened there in the 19th Century and it is seen as a land of 'golden opportunity' to many people who want to go and live there.

On 11th September 2020, the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, signed into Law the Senate Bill 145, (SB 145), after it had been passed by both legislative houses.

The SB 145 Bill removes a requirement for offenders to register as a sex offender after committing sex acts with minors within a 10-year age difference.

This means that a 23-year-old could have sexual relations with a 14-year-old child without being required to register as a sex offender.

California Governor Gavin Newsom

The Bill was introduced by State Senator Scott Wiener, who claims it is meant to treat LGBT offenders the same as heterosexual offenders, as there is already an exemption from mandatory registration for sexual relations between heterosexual partners of a similar age difference.

Scott Wiener said: "Going on the sex-offender registry can ruin a young person's life, making it harder for them to find a job and housing. We need to put an end to this terrible discrimination."

Senator Scott Wiener

After SB 145 became law in California only judges are able to require offenders to register, but it would be up to their discretion instead of a statutory requirement.

There has been outrage against this Bill across the whole of America but there is little chance of the current California executive reversing it.

CAMACA Conclusion

We understand the equality argument but the lawmakers in California have got it the wrong way round.

Two wrongs do not make a right - heterosexual abusers in their early and mid-twenties should also be forced to register as offenders if they sexually abuse a young teenager, who is still a child.

There is no doubt that young teenagers are still children so where is the protection and closure for them when they are abused by adults ten years older than them?

How can the system keep track of sex abusers if they are not forced to register?

Imagine this: A 15 year-old still at school can be raped or molested by a 24 year-old teacher, and that teacher can move from job to job doing the same thing again without having to register as a sex offender.

It is absurd to leave this to the discretion of judges as mistakes will be made and children will be abused who wouldn't have been otherwise.

California prides itself on being a liberal State, with a very large LGBT community who claim to be strong on the issue of child protection.

But it is only a matter of time before serious tragedies will be caused by SB 145 and no-one in Office will be held accountable for it.

As always, the executive will have another inquiry and blame anyone else but themselves as more children's lives are ruined.

There is also going to be a knock on effect with sentencing because of SB 145 - sentences in California for paedophiles will also get weaker which always happens when the thin end of the wedge gets in.

The only 'Gold Rush' that California will cause by this is a rush of paedophiles in their early twenties finding a haven for paedophilia.

The Golden Gate Bridge leads to somewhere useful. But SB 145 will only lead to hell for the extra children who are abused.

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