Three state legislators who represent the Santa Clarita Valley have introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 307 which would force “wrongdoers” of revenge porn to register as sex offenders.
AB 307 was authored by Assemblymembers Suzette Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, and Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, as well as State Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, to increase protections for victims of revenge porn by requiring wrongdoers to register as sex offenders, according to the legislation.
“Our laws should never protect abusers who harass and exploit to maintain control,” Lackey said in a statement Thursday. “Revenge porn is a disgusting expression of someone’s desire to dominate those who have intimately entrusted them.”
This bill asks investigators to primarily focus on consent.
It eliminates other considerations: if the victim experienced serious emotional distress and if that was the committers intention.
“In cases of domestic violence, abusers create self-doubt through coercive control,” Lackey said. “It is hard enough to free victims; we need not prod their mental state thereafter. AB 307 asks agencies to look at what is relevant for sex crimes, consent or lack thereof.”
Both Lackey and Valladares mutually agree that current laws are not enough and more needs to be done to bring closure to victims of revenge porn.
“Revenge porn is on the rise and is most often perpetrated against young girls by manipulative exploiters,” Valladares said. “The current laws in California aren’t enough to protect victims. AB 307 increases protections for victims of revenge porn and requires abusers to register as sex offenders. I’m proud to joint-author this meaningful bipartisan legislation and champion victims’ rights.”
Wilk hopes this bill will also not just help the victims of revenge porn, but give law enforcement guidance on handling type types of crime.
“I have coauthored this bill because it not only requires the wrongdoer to register as a sex offender, it gives law enforcement some guidance as to where the focus should be on these types of crimes,” Wilk said. “The issue is consent. You either have it or you don’t when it comes to publishing these types of images of someone.”
Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks, also co-authored AB 307.
To read the full text of AB 307, click here.
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