Bill > S07257

This bill redesignates and significantly increases penalties for various sex offenses, prostitution offenses, and sexual performances involving children under thirteen years old. The legislation reclassifies multiple existing crimes as class A-I felonies, which now carry a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Specifically, the bill creates new criminal categories like "rape of a child" and "criminal sexual act against a child" for sexual acts involving children under eleven, or children under thirteen where the perpetrator is eighteen or older. The bill also upgrades the severity of existing offenses such as sexual abuse, course of sexual conduct against a child, predatory sexual assault, patronizing prostitution, promoting prostitution, disseminating indecent material to minors, and using a child in a sexual performance. These changes aim to provide stricter legal consequences for sexual crimes committed against minors, reflecting a zero-tolerance approach to child sexual abuse by eliminating the possibility of future release for convicted offenders. The new law will apply to offenses committed on or after November 1st following its enactment.

Housing and Urban Affairs

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S7257