Democratic State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman from California urged other state senators in her party to support Senate Bill 1414, stating “I’m drawing a line. I urge your aye vote.”
The bill would change California state law to punish solicitation of an underage prostitute as a felony:
The bill would, if the person solicited was under 16 years of age, make the offense punishable as a wobbler by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 1 year and a fine not to exceed $10,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. For a 2nd or subsequent offense, if the person solicited was under 16 years of age, the bill would require that the offense be punishable as a felony by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years.
Eggman expressed frustration with Democrats allegedly “protecting” sex offenders, stating, “I’m done. I’m done with us protecting people who would buy and abuse our children. I’m done.” Eggman’s statement came after the bill was amended to change solicitation of a 16- or 17-year-old to a misdemeanor. Elon Musk responded to an X post of Eggman’s remarks, stating, “Wow, this is unreal!”
Eggman, who is leaving the state Senate after her term ends, stated, “Like I said, I’m leaving, but the rest of you who are going to be here for awhile, let’s get our stuff together and really start focusing on some of the important things we talk about.” Due to term limits in the state of California, Eggman was unable to run for reelection in 2024.
California state law currently punishes soliciting underage prostitutes for a mandatory minimum of 2 days, and up to 1 year:
Under existing law, if the person solicited was a minor, and the person who solicited the minor knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a mandatory minimum of 2 days and not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000 or by both such fine and imprisonment.
