07/01/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/01/2026 14:41
Senator Steven Choi, Phd. (R-Irvine) is alerting Californians that a bill giving special exemptions to sexual pedophiles and child groomers is heading to the Senate Floor, possibly for a vote as soon as tomorrow, July 2.
Assembly Bill 2691, authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), was recently amended to allow adults who sexually assault children to be eligible to run for office.
Click HERE for the analysis of the bill.
"The recent amendments of this bill added an exemption to allow adults convicted of molesting children to be eligible to run for public office," said Sen. Choi. "Before being amended, AB 2691 would have prohibited child groomers and pedophiles from being eligible to run. I questioned the author at the hearing why we would give these monsters an exemption and she couldn't explain. That's unacceptable."
As amended, AB 2691 prohibits an adult convicted of sexually assaulting another adult from running for any public office in California. However, if an adult is convicted of sexually abusing a child, they can still run for public office, including a local school board. These amendments were made to AB 2691 by the author in secret on June 24 without ever being discussed in public.
"People who commit sex crimes against vulnerable children should not be rewarded with exemptions from penalties, they should be punished fully and with every tool we have," said Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego). "If you commit a sex crime against a child, you shouldn't get special treatment and you shouldn't be allowed to represent Californians in elected office - the moment you committed that act you stopped being representative of Californians or our values."