An Act To Prohibit the Sexual Solicitation of a Child by any Means
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, this legislation closes a loophole in the law prohibiting sexual solicitation of a child; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §5821, sub-§7-A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 349, §2, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §259, as amended by PL 2003, c. 711, Pt. B, §§9 to 11, is repealed.
Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §259-A is enacted to read:
§ 259-A. Solicitation of a child to commit a prohibited act
(1) Is at least 16 years of age;
(2) Knows or believes that the other person is less than 14 years of age; and
(3) Is at least 3 years older than the age expressed by the other person.
Violation of this paragraph is a Class D crime; or
(1) Is at least 16 years of age;
(2) Knows or believes that the other person is less than 12 years of age; and
(3) Is at least 3 years older than the age expressed by the other person.
Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime.
Sec. 4. 19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§6-A, ¶A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 513, §2, is further amended to read:
(1) Sexual exploitation of a minor, under Title 17-A, section 282;
(2) Gross sexual assault, under Title 17-A, section 253;
(3) Sexual abuse of a minor, under Title 17-A, section 254;
(4) Unlawful sexual contact, under Title 17-A, section 255-A or former section 255;
(5) Visual sexual aggression against a child, under Title 17-A, section 256;
(6) Sexual misconduct with a child under 14 years of age, under Title 17-A, section 258;
(6-A) Solicitation of a child by computer to commit a prohibited act, under Title 17-A, section 259 259-A; or
(7) An offense in another jurisdiction that involves conduct that is substantially similar to that contained in subparagraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) or (6-A). For purposes of this subparagraph, "another jurisdiction" means the Federal Government, the United States military, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and each of the several states except Maine. "Another jurisdiction" also means the Passamaquoddy Tribe when that tribe has acted pursuant to Title 30, section 6209-A, subsection 1, paragraph A or B and the Penobscot Nation when that tribe has acted pursuant to Title 30, section 6209-B, subsection 1, paragraph A or B.
Sec. 5. 25 MRSA §1574, sub-§5, as corrected by RR 2003, c. 1, §23, is amended to read:
Sec. 6. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§6, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 365, Pt. B, §10 and affected by §22, is further amended to read:
Sec. 7. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§6-B is enacted to read:
(1) The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, also known as the Jacob Wetterling Act, Section 170101 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322, as amended; or
(2) The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, Public Law 109-248.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.