New California Bill Aims to Close Loophole in Child Online Extortion Cases

A growing crime, where adults extort minors using other minors, has increased significantly in recent years, catching the attention of State Sen. Tony Strickland and Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, and motivating them to introduce a bill to stop it.

“This is a growing crime, in fact it has grown over 125 percent—adults using minors to go after other minors,” Strickland said in an interview with The Daily Signal.

Strickland compared this crime to how gangs will sometimes force minors to commit crimes on the gang’s behalf, often called “crash dummies.”

“There was a loophole in our state law, and now what it does is hold the adult accountable who uses a minor to go after another minor.”

Strickland says the bill he introduced, the Protecting Our Children from Online Extortion Act, would close this loophole.

The bill is described as expanding California‘s extortion statute by “explicitly adding sexual conduct, intimate images, and explicit images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to the categories of conduct that can be used to commit extortion.”

In a post to X, Sheriff Barnes, who worked with Strickland to bring forth the bill, shared why he feels the bill is necessary to protect children. 

Strickland shared why he’s not just concerned about these crimes as a legislator, but as a father. 

“As a father, not just as a legislator, we need to close this loophole and hold these adults accountable who are using minors. Again, this is one of the fastest growing crimes if you ask Sheriff Don Barnes.”

When asked by The Daily Signal what parents can do to prevent these crimes, Strickland argued that increasing parental awareness and strengthening state law are both necessary as online predators become more sophisticated in targeting children through digital platforms.

“People are finding out different ways to get to our kids … monitor and know what your kids are watching, that’s one. Number two, call your local legislator and tell them to support this bill because it’s important we close this loophole.”

SB 1015 is currently pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.