By Khalida Sarwari
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed “Audrie’s Law,” a bill that increases punishment for juveniles convicted of sexually abusing unconscious and disabled victims.
The bill, SB 838, authored by Sen. Jim Beall, is named after Audrie Pott, the 15-year-old Saratoga teenager who took her own life two years ago after she was sexually assaulted by three teenage boys while unconscious during a Labor Day weekend party. In the aftermath of the assault, photos of Audrie were shared via text with other students. The boys later admitted to sexually assaulting Audrie and were ordered to serve between 30 and 45 days in juvenile hall. The boys’ names haven’t been released because they are minors.
“It’s a step forward,” Beall said days after the bill was passed. “I think there’s more work to be done to protect young women from sexual assault. It does send a message that you’re going to be in deep trouble if you commit these actions. You’re not going to get away with it.”
Under Audrie’s Law, a minor convicted of a sex crime where the victim is unconscious will be required to complete a sex offender treatment program, and will no longer have the option of paying a fine or participating in community service or a treatment program in order for the charges to be dismissed. In addition, juvenile sex crime court proceedings will now be open to the public and the media.
The original bill had called for a two-year minimum sentence at juvenile hall or another out-of-home detention facility for teens convicted of sexual assault against a victim who is unconscious, but was amended after it met with opposition from some lawmakers and lobby groups.
Audrie’s father, Larry Pott, said the family was “thrilled” that the bill had passed. Having cases heard in public court will not only make judges more accountable for their decisions, he said, but it will allow parents to be aware of the predators who may sit in class with their daughters.
“With identities no longer protected, and with the change to the California education code regarding off-campus activity, school administrators now have the undeniable ability to expel in these situations,” Pott said. “Bringing some safety back to our high school campuses was a huge victory.”
But both Beall and Sheila Pott, Audrie’s mother, indicated there is more work ahead. The senator said he wants to remove the term “forcible” from an initiative on juvenile crimes regarding rape. The term has created a loophole for attacks on juveniles who are unconscious, as in Audrie’s case, or developmentally disabled.
“I want to protect unconscious people in general and try to make unconscious and developmentally disabled people treated the same as someone that’s awake and aware they’re being raped,” Beall said. “We’re going to try to correct that part of the statute.”
The loophole, Sheila Pott said, treats the sexual assault of an unconscious person as a lesser crime.
“If Audrie was able to fight off her attackers, the crime would have been escalated to an adult court as the attack was forcible,” Pott said. “Since she was unconscious, it was treated as a felony sexual assault.”
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and his staff helped shape this legislation and provided guidance on key legal issues. Nevertheless, getting the bill passed was a challenge, Beall said.
“It didn’t have complete unanimous support,” he said. “Some people believe juvenile laws should be more lenient, not more strict. I sort of come down on the side that preventing these crimes and having a deterrent for these crimes will prevent crimes later in life when they’re an adult.”
Added Beall, “Some people will say boys will be boys. Rape is not boys being boys; rape is a crime.”
Link: Pott family is calling passage of Audrie’s Law a ‘huge victory’
