S 724 United States Senate · 118th Congress

Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act of 2023

This bill amends federal law to strengthen prosecutions for child sex abuse by clarifying key definitions and closing loopholes. It explicitly states that "sexual activity" includes non-contact acts (like webcam interactions), ensuring online abuse can be prosecuted. It also creates a new provision targeting abusers who use connections to organizations (such as charities or missionary groups) to commit abuse, making it a federal crime for officers, employees, or agents of such organizations to engage in illicit sexual conduct through their affiliation. These changes apply to cases involving interstate or international travel, updating the legal standard from "motivating purpose" to "intent" to prosecute abusers more effectively.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2023
Committee Review
Senate Passage
Mar 2023
House Passage
President
Introduced Mar 8, 2023 Last action Mar 9, 2023
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
6
Key actions
1
Committee
0
Mar 8, 2023
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S722-723; text: CR S722-723)
upper
Mar 8, 2023
Upper · Passed
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S722-723; text: CR S722-723)
upper
Mar 8, 2023
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors