Upcoming anti-grooming town hall to be held at MSSU
Two pieces of legislation to be discussed
Grooming a minor is not illegal in Missouri, but the “Sofie and Evie Act” aims at changing that.
The “Sofie and Evie Act” is a piece of legislation in Missouri aimed at strengthening protections for domestic violence victims, particularly by addressing gaps in intervention, bystander safety, and law enforcement response.
“The act of grooming is not illegal in the state of Missouri,” said Katie Velasquez, the chair of the Vulnerable Youth Advisory Board under Jill Carter. “So, this means if a predator is forming trust with the child and isolating them with the end goal of sexual exploitation or committing a sexual act, there’s no way that that can be prosecuted. So, this bill really will fill that gap so that the harm that’s done by just the act of grooming is illegal in Missouri. And I think we’ll be if this is enacted, I think we’ll be state number 15 to have such a bill.”
Another bill on the docket aims at sextortion, an emerging epidemic where minors are blackmailed for money using nude photos, causing severe trauma including local cases of suicide.
“I think a lot of times what’s really frustrating to people in child welfare, people in law enforcement, is that they know that these (people,) they’re bad actors and there’s nothing that they can do until something happens,” Velasquez said. “How tragic is it that we have to wait until somebody commits a heinous crime in order for them to be prosecuted?”
A big way parents can help is just stay alert and be attentive to your kids. Pay attention to their phone usage to make sure they are not being taken advantage of.
“I think a lot of the times in this day and age kids have phones,” Velasquez said. “It makes it very convenient. They’re doing sports, they’re doing things. … Not having phones in bedrooms, not having phones in bathrooms. Those are really structural things that families can implement that can help cut down on some of this. … These sexual predators are really, really well trained.”
There is a town hall at Missouri Southern State University scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 to discuss the importance of these bills. It will be located in the Mills Anderson Justice Center in room 158.
“We are really excited to have everybody come out and have a conversation,” Velasquez. “Our board is always open to talking about any issues that anybody has found a gap in the law and would really like to rectify that. They’re more than welcome to reach out to me. Senator Carter has several advisory boards that she works with in different sectors. And it is really so citizens have the power to have conversation and to help legislation really meet the needs of our Missourians.”