Bill Text: TX HB1498 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of continuous sexual abuse of a young child or children.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-15 - Left pending in committee [HB1498 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB1498-Introduced.html

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86R1731 LHC-D
By: Metcalf H.B. No. 1498

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offense of continuous sexual
abuse of a young child or children.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 21.02(b), (c), and (e), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) A person commits an offense if:
(1) during a period that is 30 or more days in duration
and regardless of whether the acts are committed against one or more
victims, the person commits two or more acts of sexual abuse, at
least one of which occurs in this state [regardless of whether the
acts of sexual abuse are committed against one or more victims]; and
(2) at the time of the commission of each of the acts
of sexual abuse, the actor is 17 years of age or older and the victim
is a child younger than 14 years of age, regardless of whether the
actor knows the age of the victim at the time of the offense.
(c) For purposes of this section, "act of sexual abuse"
means any act that is a violation of:
(1) one or more of the following penal laws of this
state:
(A) [(1)] aggravated kidnapping under Section
20.04(a)(4), if the actor committed the offense with the intent to
violate or abuse the victim sexually;
(B) [(2)] indecency with a child under Section
21.11(a)(1), if the actor committed the offense in a manner other
than by touching, including touching through clothing, the breast
of a child;
(C) [(3)] sexual assault under Section 22.011;
(D) [(4)] aggravated sexual assault under
Section 22.021;
(E) [(5)] burglary under Section 30.02, if the
offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that section and the
actor committed the offense with the intent to commit an offense
listed in Paragraphs (A)-(D) [Subdivisions (1)-(4)];
(F) [(6)] sexual performance by a child under
Section 43.25;
(G) [(7)] trafficking of persons under Section
20A.02(a)(7) or (8); and
(H) [(8)] compelling prostitution under Section
43.05(a)(2); or
(2) a penal law of another state containing elements
that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense listed
in Subdivision (1).
(e) A defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal
action of an offense listed under Subsection (c)(1) [(c)] the
victim of which is the same victim as a victim of the offense
alleged under Subsection (b) unless the offense listed in
Subsection (c)(1) [(c)]:
(1) is charged in the alternative;
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense
alleged under Subsection (b) was committed; or
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (b).
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
committed before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.