HARRISBURG – York County Rep. Joe D’Orsie plans to introduce legislation establishing a dedicated offense within PA’’s Crimes Code to hold adults accountable when they exploit positions of authority and trust to groom minors in their care. While PA law provides criminal penalties for sexual offenses and unlawful contact with minors, D’Orsie notes the Crimes Code has a significant gap when it comes to intervening before grooming escalates into physical abuse or explicit sexual solicitation. He says predators rarely cross the line all at once. They break down boundaries, build secrecy and manipulate a child’s trust long before overt sexual crimes occur. We need to give law enforcement the tools to intervene before a child is harmed, not wait until the damage is done. His proposal would establish the offense of Grooming of a Minor, making it a crime for an adult responsible for a minor’s welfare to intentionally engage in a course of conduct designed to entice or facilitate prohibited sexual conduct. The bill would specifically address conduct that cultivates secrecy, inappropriate intimacy or dependency between an adult and a minor. To ensure the legislation does not criminalize legitimate relationships between children and trusted adults, the proposal includes safe harbors for ordinary, transparent interactions that are incidental to educational, athletic, religious and professional roles.
REP. JOE D’ORSIE