By:  Van de Putte                                     S.B. No. 1295
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the prosecution of the offense of indecency with a
 1-3     child.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 21.11, Penal Code, is amended by amending
 1-6     Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 1-7           (c)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:
 1-8                 (1)  the victim was of the opposite sex of the actor;
 1-9                 (2)  at the time of the offense the victim was 14 years
1-10     of age or older and the actor was younger than 20 years of age; and
1-11                 (3)  the actor through mistake formed a reasonable
1-12     belief that the victim was not more than three years younger than
1-13     the actor.
1-14           (d)  An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the
1-15     second degree and an offense under Subsection (a)(2) is a felony of
1-16     the third degree.
1-17           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
1-18     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
1-19     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
1-20     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
1-21     before the effective date.
1-22           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
1-23     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
1-24     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
1-25           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.