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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to increasing the criminal penalty for continuous sexual |
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abuse of a child who is younger than 14 years of age. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 21.02, Penal Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsection (i) to read as |
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follows: |
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(h) Except as provided by Subsection (i), an [An] offense |
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under this section is a felony of the first degree, punishable by |
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imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, |
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or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years. |
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(i) An offense under this section is a felony of the first |
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degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of |
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Criminal Justice for life without parole if at least one act of |
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sexual abuse was committed against a victim who is younger than 14 |
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years of age as described by Subsection (b)(2)(A). If the jury is |
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the trier of fact, members of the jury must agree unanimously that |
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the defendant committed an act of sexual abuse against a victim who |
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is younger than 14 years of age as described by Subsection |
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(b)(2)(A). |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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before that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |