By: Hancock, Huffman  S.B. No. 1562
         (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2023; March 16, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  April 5, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 0; April 5, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to creating the criminal offense of child grooming.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 15, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Section 15.032 to read as follows:
         Sec. 15.032.  CHILD GROOMING. (a) A person commits an
  offense if, with the intent that an offense under Chapter 43 or an
  offense involving sexual activity, the occurrence of which would
  subject the actor to criminal liability under Chapter 20A, 21, or
  22, be committed, the person knowingly persuades, induces, entices,
  or coerces, or attempts to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce, a
  child younger than 18 years of age to engage in specific conduct
  that, under the circumstances surrounding the actor's conduct as
  the actor believes them to be, would:
               (1)  constitute an offense under Chapter 43 or an
  offense involving sexual activity the occurrence of which would
  subject the actor to criminal liability under Chapter 20A, 21, or
  22; or
               (2)  make the child a party to the commission of an
  offense described by Subdivision (1).
         (b)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
  degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if
  the actor has previously been convicted of an offense under:
               (1)  Chapter 20A, if the offense involved conduct
  described by Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8);
               (2)  Section 21.02;
               (3)  Section 21.11;
               (4)  Section 22.011, if the victim of the offense was a
  child under 18 years of age; or
               (5)  Section 22.021, if the victim of the offense was a
  child under 18 years of age.
         (c)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
  section that the actor is under the age of 18 and:
               (1)  the actor engaged in conduct described by
  Subsection (a) with respect to another child under the age of 18:
                     (A)  who is not more than three years older or
  younger than the actor and with whom the actor had a dating
  relationship at the time of the offense; or
                     (B)  who was the spouse of the actor at the time of
  the offense; and
               (2)  the conduct occurred only between the actor and
  the other child described by Subdivision (1).
         (d)  If conduct constituting an offense under this section
  also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
  actor may be prosecuted under either section but not both sections.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
  * * * * *