Bill Text: TX SB358 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of indecency with a child.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-13 - Filed [SB358 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-SB358-Introduced.html

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89R974 RDR-D
By: Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Menéndez S.B. No. 358

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of indecency
with a child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.11(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that the actor:
(1) was not more than three years older than the victim
[and of the opposite sex];
(2) did not use duress, force, or a threat against the
victim at the time of the offense; and
(3) at the time of the offense:
(A) was not required under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure, to register for life as a sex offender; or
(B) was not a person who under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure, had a reportable conviction or adjudication for
an offense under this section.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to an
offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act and to
any criminal action pending on the effective date of this Act for an
offense committed before that effective date. A final conviction
for an offense under Section 21.11, Penal Code, that exists on the
effective date of this Act is unaffected by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.