(The Center Square) – A bill cracking down on child sexual predators is being considered by the Arizona House after its near unanimous passage in the Senate.
Senate Bill 1585, which has bipartisan support and closes a loophole in prosecuting and sentencing offenders, was approved Wednesday unanimously by the nine-member House Judiciary Committee. It passed March 4 in the Senate with 27 votes in favor and three abstentions.
The legislation changes the definition of “dangerous crime against children” to include acts where the defendant knew or had reason to know the minor was under age 15. The bill is designed to protect boys and girls from pedophiles.
Previously, offenders have ended up with nothing more than probation if they were arrested during a sting operation in which undercover law enforcement played the potential victim, said Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp, the bill’s sponsor.
“This bill is the product of a collaboration between myself and Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller. He brought this to my attention,” Shamp said.
Miller told Shamp that two undercover sting operations by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office over four weeks resulted in the arrest of 20 adults who were caught luring children for sex acts. Miller said some of the defendants couldn’t be charged under dangerous crimes against children laws because of a court of appeals’ interpretation of the current statutes.
SB 1585 closes the loophole on prosecution and sentencing, Shamp, R-Surprise, told The Center Square Wednesday. That means the offenders could be prosecuted to the same degree and sentenced to the same amount of time as others convicted of the crime.
“This bill ensures these monsters, who knowingly and intentionally target someone they believe to be a child, are held accountable under the full weight of our laws,” Shamp said.
Sex offenders should know they can’t continue to get away with their crimes, Shamp told The Center Square, adding she expects the “extremely bipartisan” bill to go before the full House next week and pass.
“Everyone supports this,” Shamp said.
She added that she has supported efforts by Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, who sponsored SB 1630, which was signed into law in 2024 and created a board to deal with guidelines and standards on how sex offenders are managed.
This session, Bolick sponsored SB 1660 to fund the board. It passed the Senate 27-0 March 13. (Three senators did not vote.) It’s now being considered by the House.
The bill allocates $200,000 and two full-time equivalent positions for fiscal year 2025-26 to operate the Sex Offender Management Board, which will be within the state Department of Public Safety. The bill also requires offenders to pay assessments varying from $75 for a class 3 misdemeanor to $2,000 for a class 1 felony.
“Ultimately it’s hard for good people to stop bad people from doing things before they do. It’s always reactive,” Shamp said, stressing the need for deterrence. “The good news is many of us are working on this, slowly but surely.”
Shamp has sponsored previous bills to protect children.
One of her bills passed in 2024, SB 1236, requires the names of more level-one sex offenders, who committed a dangerous crime against children, to be published on the internet. Also signed into law was Shamp’s SB 1404, which requires schools to be notified if a parent of one of the students is a registered sex offender convicted of a dangerous crime against children.
