As a survivor of grooming, I know firsthand the devastation it causes. It tears families apart, damages lives and leaves an indelible scar. Many survivors and/or their families, have tried tirelessly to seek justice through the appropriate legal channels, only to face overwhelming frustration and inaction. The confusion, finger-pointing, and the fear of testifying place many other children at continued risk of exploitation.

In Pennsylvania, the current Age of Consent Law does not adequately protect minors from individuals who have the potential to exploit and groom them under the guise of a legal relationship. Our existing laws fail in providing a robust framework that addresses not only age discrepancies but also power imbalances in these relationships. Hence, it is crucial that we initiate reform. This reform should also include legal consequences for those who helped assist the perpetrator in these illegal acts. Harsher punishments should be implemented for those individuals, who are considered mandated reporters and made the decision to turn a blind eye.    

We propose a modification to the Age of Consent Law that includes the implementation of essential stipulations. These stipulations should limit the age difference between a consenting minor and their legal adult partner to no more than four years. This age gap restriction aims to minimize the potential for exploitation by significantly older individuals. 

Moreover, the reform should prohibit any form of romantic relationship between a minor and a legal adult who has previously held a position of authority over the minor. This measure is fundamental in preventing potential abuse of power dynamics which can manifest during the development of such relationships.

We also seek to empower parents and guardians of minors by updating legal avenues that allow them to pursue charges against perpetrators even after the victim turns eighteen years of age. This extended period for pressing charges is vital to ensure justice is served and that offenders cannot escape accountability simply due to the passage of time. 

Reforming should also include charges on individuals, including the victim, who attempts to use the legal system as a means to control, abuse and /or destroy the character of their family members who attempt to press charges on the perpetrator. I have seen first hand of a female victim refusing to come to terms of their situation and purge themselves on the witness stand after filing false claims. Repercussions for display of defamation, seems to have gone unpunished. Demonstrating how the unpunished perpetrator turns a victim into an abuser themselves. 

These reforms are not just about changing laws; they are about protecting our community's children and ensuring a safer future. They are about ensuring that those who prey on the vulnerable cannot hide behind legal loopholes. Let's make Pennsylvania a leader in protecting minors.

We are are not just calling on Pennsylvania Lawmakers to review and strengthen our Age of Consent Law, but to be the trailblazers who can eventually make this a Federal Law. 

What changes are we asking for:

1. Limiting the age difference between minors and adults.
   • At this time, Pennsylvania recognizes that a sixteen year old minor can consent, but this does not mean that the consent was obtain by a minor who has the developmental understanding of what they are agreeing to do. In other words, the minor did not receive and fully understand - Informed Consent - prior to committing any sexual or non-sexual acts with a significantly older adult. Consent from a minor at the age of sixteen or seventeen, does not mean that the child is not being used in sexual exploitation. 
   • We propose that the adult can not be greater than four years older than the minor for sexual relations.  

                                    For example, an adult who is in their thirties  would not be able to use the loopholes found in the current law, to engage in a sexual                                                      relationship with a sixteen year old simply because the law states that a minor at this age can give consent. 

• • Being legally old enough to give consent should not mean that the minor is left unprotected from exploitation by significantly older adults. 

• • Legal age of consent should never override the minors mental health history and/or cognitive development. 

                                   Minors who have a history of depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia or other mental health issues/diagnoses are vulnerable and can be                                           seen as easy targets for predators and this should be taken into consideration on whether or not the minor has the mental capacity to                                             give consent. 

• • Lawmakers should also consider the timeline of a minors mental health history and if the component of grooming could be a factor for suicidal ideations, suicidal attempts, homicidal ideations or homicidal attempts. For example, if the there is evidence of grooming and /or sexual exploitation, while the minor had contact and was isolated with the adult and the minor attempted suicide, parents or legal guardians should be able to address these time lines to show that the mental stability of the minor - at that time - could not give the minor the mental capacity for Informed Consent. 

                                    Minors with diagnoses of mental health conditions, that does not give them the developmental capacity to make daily discussions or                                              complete daily tasks for themselves, should not be dismissed due to the age of consent. 

                    2. Protections of minors from any adults who hold a position of authority.

• • Adults who have been entrusted to guide and educate minors should never use their position to purse a sexual relationship with a minor. 
  • Any entrusted adult should not be able to take advantage of a younger person's trust or emotional dependence in order to dictate, control or groom them into future sexual relationships. This includes, but is not limited to medical personnel, mental health professionals, educators, employers, SROs (School Resource Officers), First Responders, coaches or any positions relating to the care of a child and development.  

                     3. Give families more opportunities to seek justice, even after the minor has turned eighteen years old.

• Some victims have been manipulated to such a severe degree, that they cannot fully comprehend what has happened to them until many years have past. Some are fearful, embarrassed or emotionally incapable to verbalize and seek help for what they have gone through. 

• • The parents or legal guardian of the minor should have laws in place to help them pursue justice, even after the minor has turned eighteen years old. These parents and legal guardians, who have discovered evidence of exploitation should have clear legal options for reporting suspected abuse and seeking as investigation should not have to involve contacting multiple agencies, in order for their voices to be heard and for them to be taken seriously. 
  • We are asking for lawmakers to review the existing reporting procedures, prosecution deadlines and legal protections to ensure that that passage of time does not unnecessarily prevent accountability. 
  • We are asking lawmakers to also consider that if an investigation reveals an excessive amount of evidence and witnesses - who are able and willing to testify - that justice should not be prolonged. By allowing the current law to stand and victims refusing to testify, we allow predators to escape accountability and give them the freedom to not just continue their current behaviors, but allow them to improve their tactics for their next victim.   

                      4. Hold those who help or cover up abuse accountable.

• • An individual, who knowingly helps someone sexually exploit a child or deliberately conceals wrongful doings should face appropriate legal consequences. This includes any individual who knowingly assist the offender, interferes with an investigation or participates in covering up potential evidence. 
  • An example might be that the predator and the victim are seen entering a room for an extended period of time on camera, but the room was deliberately chosen by the predator in order to make sure their acts were not digitally recorded. Others who had access to the camera footage to document when the predator and victim entered the room, the time both parties spend in the room together and the state in which the predator and victim exited the room were hidden or deleted by another individual. 
  • Lawmakers should also consider including legal consequences for those perpetrators, who use any form of manipulation on other minors to assist them in their crimes. An example could include the perpetrator using their own children to gain access to their victim by means of deception, threats or bribery. Using their own children to disguise a date with a minor, by telling their own children that the victim was invited to the outing for their child's benefit because 'they are friends' - lying about the true intentions. 
    • Another example could include bringing their child on deliberate dates with the victim and then using means of deception, threats or bribery to make sure their child does not disclose the details of these events to other another. Such as to convince their child not to tell the other parent, especially when the perpetrator is still married - this is extremely abusive towards the child being forced into an adult situation that they did not fully comprehend themselves or asked to be apart of. 

                       5. Strengthening accountability for mandated reporters. 

• Pennsylvania currently has penalties in place for failing to report suspected child abuse. We are asking for lawmakers to review these penalties to see if they were strong enough and consistently enforced. 
• Lawmakers should also consider the connections an abuser/predator has with local law enforcement and the negative outcomes it has for the victims. Conflict of Interest has been a common issue among reporting fellow mandated reporters. A struggle seen locally, is that the connections between certain abusers/predators causes confusion and sometimes no results.

                      6. Protect the integrity of the Legal System 

• • The path to seeking justice is difficult enough without individuals deliberately lying under oath. Some individuals - predators, victims and those they are associated with - can knowingly make false accusations, harass or intimidate witnesses and use the legal system to retaliate against family members. 
  •  Anyone who intentionally commits these acts should be held accountable under the law, regardless of their relationship to the victim or the accused party. 
  • We recognize and understand that victims of grooming might be fearful, manipulated, confused or in some cases not willing to testify for various reasons. 
  • Our goal is to protect victims, implement safeguards for everyone involved and ensure that deliberate misconduct does not interfere with achieving justice. That being said, those victims who switch from being a victim to becoming an abuser themselves, should not go unpunished.  An example would be a victim who admits on the stand that their false allegations against a family member and their Protection From Abuse (PFA), was only filed in order to keep them  (the concerned family member) out of their groomed relationship with the actual abuser/predator, should not go unpunished. Lawmakers should also consider a stipulation in these sorts of cases, that the plaintiff who filed the false accusations - especially if it was recorded in a court case via a stenographer or other recording professional - should have to pay the defendants court cost, other legal fees and allow the defendant to sue for pain and suffering. 

                     7. Custody review for children parented by an offender.

1. • Lawmakers should keep what is in the best interest of all children, who are related to the predator and the increased risks these have being exposed to minors. Predators who are also parents of minor children, should be psychologically evaluated by trained and licensed mental health professionals. These individuals should be evaluated by Psychosexual Trauma/Behaviors Professionals, Forensic Psychiatrists and/or Criminal Psychologists, before the predator parent can have unsupervised custody of their children. Supervised visits should also be conducted by a court appointed official, who is a non-relative or connected to the family in any way prior to evaluation. Victims who decide to reproduce or who are forced to reproduce with their abuser should have to complete this section to ensure the safety of the newborn and themselves. 

                 8.  No contact clause for minors related to the victim.

• • Some victims have a difficult time - as discussed above - with coming to terms with their situation and leaving their situation. However, some victims want to continuing having relationships with their families but at what cost to other minor children. As I have seen first hand, an abuser attempting to use the court system to harass  and intimidate the minor sibling of their current victim.  We encourage lawmakers to allow parents of the remaining minor children in their care to pursue legal action against a predator if warranted, at the predators expense. 
  • Lawmakers should also consider resources to the immediate family members of the victim, including restraining orders  for the remaining minor children under the care of their parent(s), if that is what they decide to do. 

In summery, we are asking the Pennsylvania General Assembly to review and strengthen existing laws addressing:

• Sexual relationships involving minors and significantly older adults.
• Grooming and exploiting by adults in position of trust or authority.
• Legal options for victims and families seeking justice. 
• Criminal accountability for individual who assist in or knowingly cover up abuse. 
• Penalties for mandated reporters, who deliberately fail to report suspected abuse.
• Protections against intentional false statements, witness intimidation and misuse of legal proceedings. 

NO CHILD SHOULD BE LEFT UNPROTECTED DUE TO LOOPHOLES IN THE LAW. 

NO SURVIVOR SHOULD FEEL THAT SEEKING JUSTICE IS A HOPELESS PROCESS. 

NO FAMILY SHOULD BE TURNED AWAY FROM JUSTICE, JUST BECAUSE EVIDENCE WAS FOUND AFTER THE VICTIM TURNED EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE.

NO VICTIM TURNED ABUSER SHOULD GET TO GO UNPUNISHED FOR THE ROLE THEY PLAYED IN WEAPONIZING THE LEGAL SYSTEM. 

PROTECTING AN ABUSER SHOULD NEVER COME AT THE EXPENSE OF VICTIMIZING A CHILD!

By signing this petition, you are joining us in demanding that our lawmakers take immediate action to amend Pennsylvania's Age of Consent Law in order to protect current victims and future victims. Together, we can create real change and protect those who need it most. Please add your voice and sign this petition. Let us stand united in the fight against child grooming and abuse.