All right. You let me know when you're ready. Okay. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Senator Erin May Quade. I represent Senate District 56 in the Minnesota Senate. 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. The reason that this bill exists is heartbreaking. A band teacher in my own school district abused his position to groom and sexually assault multiple students. Gaps in our laws delayed investigations and ultimately this teacher went largely unpunished. You will hear today from the incredible advocate who made sure that this bill became law, Hannah Lo Presto, and she really was crucial and instrumental to how we got here. Her story was illustrative and she shared it over and over and over again to protect Minnesota students and all children in in student in Minnesota. Grooming and sexual assault can happen to boys and girls, but girls in particular are targeted for grooming and predatory behavior by adults. I was 9 years old the first time a grown man said something sexual about my body. When I was 14 years old, one of my best friends entered into a relationship with a 24-year-old man. It is not uncommon for girls as young as 13 and 14 to have boyfriends who are in their 20s. What is happening to young girls and women in this world is truly awful, and our laws often ignore the reality that far too many of us experience. And on Saturday, the law says no more. This is wrong, and it is now a felony crime. Before she takes the mic, I really want to thank Hannah and Detective Chad Classen for working so closely with me on this bill. Hannah, thank you for your bravery in telling your story. Thank you for turning something so painful and difficult into such meaningful legislation. It takes so much work and vulnerability to show up again and again and again and advocate for change, especially when it's your own story that you're vulnerably telling to do so. And I'm so grateful to know both of you and to have worked alongside you. This bill is better, this law is better, and it will protect Minnesota kids because of you. And with that, I will turn it over to Hannah. >> Thank you. Hi, everyone. I'm Hannah Lo Presto, the victim survivor of grooming and sexual assault whose story is where this legislation was born. 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. That point in time of being told no taught me something about creativity. Creativity comes from constraints, from the turn downs, the no's, from being told this is the end the road. It's when I was left with no other options that I had the greatest opportunity to create something that's never existed before. I created a proposal for the changes that needed to be made to protect other kids from grooming and sexual abuse at school. And if it weren't for the support of my detective and the Eagan Police Department, especially in those early days, I would have thought it was impossible for someone like me to change the law. But I'm here to report back that remarkably, it's not. Tomorrow, I celebrate these new law changes, yes. But even more so, I celebrate the unity and togetherness behind them. This legislation didn't just pass, it passed unanimously in every committee and every floor vote because this matters to all of us. I will always be grateful to the bipartisan authors, co-authors, and legislative staff who supported me here at the Capitol. Thank you for listening to me, including me in the process, and believing in the power of my story. Because of you, I got to witness our lawmakers, stakeholders, and community members set their differences aside to help me protect our young people from grooming. And it worked because we did it together as a team. Since the bill passed, I've been asked so many times now, "How does it feel, Hannah?" It feels like time travel. It feels like I went back to rescue little Hannah. All those years ago, she got left behind in the band lesson room in the basement of my high school. And I went back for her. We went back for her, together. Being groomed and sexually assaulted forced me to grow up too fast. I want more kids to be able to just be kids. And I'm so happy to celebrate that tomorrow we've increased those odds. This is the ending to the story I want. If I could have chosen between charges for my case or this, I'd choose this. A far better outcome for our communities and a happier ending for me. Thank you. >> We will take questions. >> Sarah, what are the teeth in this law? What what what changes with it in terms of what happens to these these these people who are preying on kids? >> Yeah, 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. So, that's outside of schools. That could be soccer coaches or boy or girl scout leaders or pastors or faith leaders. So, we really did kind of go across the board all encompassing to say where are children being preyed upon and how can we close those gaps. So, felony penalties and making sure that age is not taken into account when it's positions of authority or in a school. >> No questions? Okay. Oh, get going. >> You kind of touched on this, but can you tell me like what this means to you being a little girl and being told that like, "Sorry, nothing we can do." And now you're doing something major for so many other little kids who have been in your same position. Can you tell me what this means to you? >> 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. Um and and not possible at all. And so, I think that just this experience of all of the support that I've received from all different kinds of people that have wanted to see me succeed and see these changes be made has really shown me how it is possible to accomplish great things if you ask for help and you're willing to be vulnerable and courageous and be a part of a team that's really all going to come together to see this through. >> Thank you. Um I have one more question for you. Obviously, grooming and child sexual abuse is a big deal and that one law will just help to stop all of that. Are there other things that you guys are looking at or doing to help um protect children more? >> 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. Um I have one that deals with increased penalties for adults who are uh mandated reporters and are aware of child sexual abuse that is occurring and have a relationship with the adults, not the child, because right now the statute is constructed it imagines that a an adult comes across a child in the course of their work and is reported to them. Um there are far more adults who are aware of the adults who are committing the sexual abuse and not mandated reporting. Um I think there might be two more in that suite of bills, but this is this is a huge first step, absolutely. But, there is more that we can and should do in the state of Minnesota. And those bills that I just mentioned, they are all bipartisan. And so I really hope to get those across the finish line next session, you know, if I return. But it's very, very important work and this was a huge step. >> Great. Thank you so much. Any other questions? All right. Thank you all so much. >> Thank you, folks.