A new bill introduced in the Mississippi House of Representatives would label child grooming as a crime punishable by up to a decade behind bars.
HB 571, authored by Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, is also known as “The Juvenile Offender Parole and Rehabilitation Act.”
The catalyst for the measure was a Mississippi family, namely Mamie and Davis Causey, who found their child to be a victim of grooming after uncovering illicit conversations between the child and an adult, along with consulting an array of legal, mental health, medical, and law enforcement professionals. But even when authorities confirmed their suspicion of the 14-year-old being groomed, the Causeys found no legal course of action to be taken.
“Child grooming takes place in 5 stages, and we believe we discovered it in stage 4. The majority of child sexual abuse cases begin with child grooming,” Mamie Causey wrote on Facebook. “Child grooming can also lead to long-term mental health issues including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse. Unfortunately, under current child exploitation laws in the State of Mississippi, the act of child grooming in and of itself is not a criminal offense.”
As pointed out by Causey, child grooming is not defined as a criminal offense in many states across the U.S., but states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Arizona have enacted laws similar to HB 571 that make the act a punishable crime.
Some law enforcement authorities qualify child grooming as a subjective offense, making it difficult to prosecute in some cases. The U.S. Department of Justice defines child grooming as:
The main idea behind child grooming is to build a stable and reliable relationship, which includes trust between an adult and a minor (under the age of 18), in order to sexually assault the minor in the coming future in way of contact, or through other means such as introducing the said minor to pornography in order to lay the groundwork for sexual abuse.
In Causey’s Facebook post, she details more than 5,500 texts, which included 198 unsent messages by the adult, which made up more than 300 pages when printed. Social media messages between the adult, a female teacher of the child, and the victim constituted another 200 printed pages.
As outlined in the bill, adult first-time offenders convicted of grooming individuals under the age of 18 could be sentenced to a max of a year in prison, with second time offenders facing a maximum of 10 years behind bars.
Though Causey says the bill would have no bearing on their son’s case if it were passed as a law, it would be a major step forward in protecting the children of Mississippi and dissuading potential offenders.
“Throughout this entire ordeal, we have prayed to find purpose in such a terrible situation,” Causey continued in the post. “Our goal is to protect children from child predators, to prevent physical child sexual abuse, and to hold the people who do this to children accountable for their actions. Children need advocates to protect them!”
HB 571 was referred to the House Judiciary B Committee on Wednesday, with a long road ahead to make it through the legislature and onto Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk to become law. It would go into effect on July 1, 2025.
