“Tomorrow, August 1st, it will be a felony crime in the state of Minnesota for an adult to groom a child. The implementation of House File 3489 will also address other gaps in law that have made it far too easy for adults to prey on children without consequence.”

“Over a decade ago, I was a girl going to high school. A girl who became deeply hurt by the grooming and sexual assault she experienced by her band teacher. Then, she grew up and was faced with the harsh reality of being told that charges for her case were being turned down due to gaps in the law.”

“This legislation didn't just pass, it passed unanimously in every committee and every floor vote because this matters to all of us.”

“So, it is now a felony crime to groom a child in the state of Minnesota. So, it's one of the highest charges you could possibly get. Other gaps that were closed, we don't allow the grooming of children no matter the age if it is a school employee or contract employee because we do have students in the state of Minnesota who go to school up to the age of 22. We also have protections for people in positions from people in positions of authority.”

“Yeah, I mean it's it's something I never would have imagined as possible for myself. certainly. I think if when I was turned down, when charges for my case were turned down by the county, if if in that moment someone had said to me, 'Well, then you should just change the law.' I would have thought that was crazy.”

“Yes, I actually have a set of bills that are directly dealing with this issue. So, one of them is removing the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse victims seeking uh civil penalties against their abusers. I have one that increases the age of consent from 16 to 18 because it is far too young in the state of Minnesota.”