SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senate Bill 680 (SB 680), authored by Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), passed the Senate Public Safety Committee today on a vote of 4-1. The bill closes a glaring loophole in California’s sex offender registry law – one that currently allows adults who engage in unlawful vaginal intercourse with minor girls to avoid mandatory registration in many cases.

“I am furious that we still have to fight this hard for basic protections for girls,” said Senator Rubio. “There is no justification for this loophole that allows adults to groom and prey on girls. Let’s call these adults what they are: sex offenders.”

California’s sex offender registry law requires mandatory registration for nearly all sex abuse involving minors, including oral sex and sodomy. But in cases of unlawful sexual intercourse, a charge most often applied when an adult is more than ten years older than the minor, the law treats this charge as less serious, even when the adult is 10, 15, or 20 years older than the victim. SB 680 closes that loophole and ensures that these cases carry the same consequences as other offenses involving minors.

“This bill is critical to correcting and closing a gap in our sex offender registration requirement,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “It is unacceptable that all sex offenses against our minors are automatically registerable except for intercourse with our minor girls. I thank Senator Rubio for her leadership and am proud to have worked with her to strengthen our laws to hold accountable sex offenders who target our children.”

SB 680 is designed to ensure that adults who prey on minors can’t evade accountability. Advocates say this gap in the law has allowed offenders to avoid oversight and left victims without the full protection they deserve.

What SB 680 Does:

• Requires sex offender registration in cases of unlawful sex with a minor when the offender is more than 10 years older than the victim – OR – if the age difference is less than 10 years and the offender has committed the crime more than once.
• Aligns registration requirements with the requirements for other offenses involving minors
• Ensures equal protection for all survivors, regardless of the charge

What SB 680 Doesn’t Do:

• Doesn’t create any new crimes
• Doesn’t change penalties or sentencing laws
• Doesn’t remove judicial discretion in unrelated cases

Senator Rubio has long championed legislation that protects victims of abuse, trafficking, and exploitation. Her previous legislation includes:

• The Phoenix Act (SB 273), extending the statute of limitations to 5 years for domestic violence crimes
• The Phoenix Act 2.0 (SB 690), further extending the statute of limitations to 7 years for domestic violence crimes
• SB 1141, a first-of-its-kind bill which defined coercive control as a form of abuse
• Piqui’s Law (SB 331), which strengthened protections for children in family court
• SB 14 and SB 1414 with Senator Shannon Grove, which expanded protections for children who have experienced sexual exploitation and ensures that child trafficking is treated as a serious felony under California law.

“Since being elected, my mission in the Senate has been to protect victims of human trafficking, sex trafficking, and domestic violence because our daughters, our nieces, and our communities deserve better,” Senator Rubio said. “No one should get a pass for abusing a child, and no survivor should be told their pain matters less because of a loophole in the law.”

SB 680 continues that work by closing a dangerous loophole and ensuring that adults who sexually abuse minors are held fully accountable. The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senator Rubio is available for interviews in English or Spanish. To schedule an interview, please contact Brian Wheatley at brian.wheatley@sen.ca.gov.

For more information, visit the website of Senator Susan Rubio at https://sd22.senate.ca.gov/

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