California Dems run ads against GOP on sex trafficking bill after blocking penalties for teen solicitation
A series of Facebook ads funded by the California Democratic Party is claiming that Republicans are against stronger laws to protect 16- and 17-year-old sex trafficking victims amid a legislative fight over a minor solicitation bill in which Democrats successfully forced the exclusion of harsher penalties for the purchase or solicitation of older teens.
The ads began appearing on social media after a vote in the California Assembly last week when Democrat leaders refused to move forward with AB 379, which would have made it an automatic felony to purchase or solicit 16- and 17-year-olds for sex.
Featured in each ad is the name and image of a state Republican lawmaker who "voted against stronger laws protecting" older teens from sex trafficking, accusing them of protecting their "political party, not our kids."
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AB 379, authored by Democratic Assemblymember Maggy Krell, was an attempt to crack down on the buyers in the child sex trafficking trade and to align their punishments with the traffickers. The ad campaign came after the Democrat-controlled Assembly Public Safety Committee decided to move the bill forward as long as it didn't carry the felony provision for those who solicit older teens for sex.
At the time, Krell told Fox News Digital that she was forced to exclude the felony provision in order for the legislation to move forward.
"I wholeheartedly disagree with that amendment," she said. "This has been my life’s work and I will continue to partner with sex trafficking survivors and law enforcement to ensure all minors are protected from the horrors of sex trafficking."
On Thursday, Democrats voted to strip the bill completely from Krell, a former prosecutor who investigated human trafficking, while excluding the automatic felony clause. They also inserted text that read, "It is the intent of the Legislature to adopt the strongest laws to protect 16-and 17-year old victims and strengthen protections in support of survivors of human trafficking."
"Just when you thought the @CA_Dem couldn't go any lower, any more pathetic and desperate, here they are, trying to falsely spin themselves out of siding with predators over children, (poorly) playing politics over people. SO excited for 2026," the California Republican Party shared Monday on X.
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Several Republican lawmakers also pushed back against the accusation that their party doesn't protect children.
"You see my friend Democrats lie… After we called @AsmDems out on the floor last week for removing protections for 16 and 17-year-old victims, they run ads accusing us… of the very thing they are doing," Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher wrote on X. "You can’t hide from the truth with deceptive ads. It is Democrats who can’t bring themselves to part with weird ideological politics to protect kids."
Assemblyman Josh Hoover, one of several Republicans targeted in the ad campaign, said Democrats were attempting to gaslight Californians.
"Make no mistake, these ads are nothing but a distraction from their own failed record on public safety," he wrote on social media. "I will continue to fight to restore the protections they removed, hold perpetrators accountable, and make sure all minors are treated equally under the law."
The ad campaign was reportedly being pushed by the campaign of Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Democratic Party and Rivas' campaign.
AB 379 came together after older teens were left out of a state law that went into effect this year that makes it a felony to purchase a child aged 15 and younger for sex. Last year, California State Sen. Shannon Groven authored a bill that made it illegal to buy minors for sex, but it excluded 16- and 17-year-olds.
Currently, traffickers, not the buyers, face the harshest consequences when convicted of trafficking anyone under 18.
Last week, Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supported harsher consequences for those who solicit minors for sex.
Assemblyman Joe Patterson said Newsom has lost control of his own party and that the state Democratic Party is treating him "like a lame duck." Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez said Democrats across the state have failed Californians on a range of issues, including public safety, affordability and homelessness.
"All they have left are dirty lies that are easily rebutted by journalists," she wrote.
The National Republican Congressional Committee also weighed in on the matter.
"California Democrats chose predators over children and out-of-touch Democrats Derek Tran and Dave Min have said nothing," Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the NRCC, told Fox News Digital while calling out Democrat lawmakers. "Worse, they’re letting their fellow Democrats whitewash their disgusting record of protecting the absolute worst among us."
Last week, Krell said she didn't care if the bill had her name on it or not, but would support any proposal that included protections for 16- and 17-year-olds.