Currently in a majority of U.S. states, if a police officer sexually assaults someone in custody, they can claim in court that it was consensual. Instances of sexual abuse and rape have been numerously reported from people, often handcuffed, held in police custody and their claims were passed off by officers as being consensual.

In this legislation, the Closing the Law Enforcement Consent Loophole Act will make it a crime for federal law enforcement officers to engage in sexual acts with individuals in their custody and will encourage States to do the same. This bill was previously introduced in 2018 but did not pass.

More information on this bill can be found: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1574/text