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 The new bill, dubbed Audrie's Law after 15-year-old Audrie Pott,
who killed herself in Los Altos in September 2012, is the latest
effort by lawmakers in California and other states to curb online
cruelty that has been blamed for a number of teen suicides.
"I believe that this bill will bring justice for victims and really
update the law to make it relevant in our 21st century, connected
society," Democratic state Senator Jim Beall told reporters as he
presented the bill.
The law would make it a crime for juveniles, those under age 18, to
take or distribute images of a sexual nature of a minor with the
intent to harass, shame or intimidate the person, said Santa Clara
District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who helped draft the legislation.
Under current law, minors are charged with distributing child
pornography for similar crimes, but that does not address the
bullying aspect of sharing the images, Rosen said.
The proposed law would also allow juveniles to be tried as adults if
they are accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated,
developmentally disabled or otherwise incapacitated person.
The bill's backers said it would discourage sexual assaults at
alcohol-fueled parties by teens, and any ensuing online taunting of
victims.
The law applies only to minors because it amends existing
legislation aimed at juvenile offenders.
Audrie Pott's parents filed a wrongful death suit against three
16-year-old boys, accusing them of sexually assaulting their
daughter and scribbling vulgar markings on her body while she was
passed out from drinking during a party at a friend's home, eight
days before she hanged herself.
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The three boys were arrested on criminal charges of sexual assault
by digital penetration and of distributing a photo of a minor in
sexual positions — both felonies. Rosen declined to comment on the
status of the case because it involved juveniles.
The San Jose Mercury News, citing anonymous sources, reported the
boys admitted to penetrating Audrie while she was passed out and
possessing cellphone photos of her partially naked body. It said one
was sentenced to 45 days in juvenile hall and the other two were
sentenced to 30 days.
California lawmakers have taken other steps to protect people from
having sexually explicit images of themselves circulate online
against their will.
Last year, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a
first-in-the-nation law criminalizing "revenge porn," the
distribution of private, explicit photos of other people on the
Internet, usually by former lovers or spouses, to humiliate them.
Cyber-bullying is illegal in California, and last year a law made it
easier for schools to discipline perpetrators even if they act
outside of campus.
(Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein;
editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Mohammad Zargham)
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