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.