Public Safety Committee Chairman Reggie Jones-Sawyer told Fox News Digital current “law contains penalties with nuanced approaches to sex offenses, depending on the circumstances, including developmental disabilities and age differences.”
“Rape of a developmentally disabled person is already punishable by up to eight years in state prison,” Jones-Sawyer said. “Increased penalties apply where the victim of rape is a child and force or fear is used.”
“The act is punishable by up to 13 years in state prison if the child was under 14 years of age and by up to 11 years if the child was 14 years of age or older,” he said.
The bill raising penalties for raping a disabled child is the latest GOP-backed sexual crime bill struck down in the Democrat-controlled chamber.