HB993 That Makes Grooming a Child for Sex a Felony Now in State Senate

A Georgia State Senate Committee is expected to convene this week to further discuss proposed amendments to House Bill 993, a bill that would make grooming a child for indecent purposes by an adult a felony.

Last week, State Representative Alan Powell and Deputy Directory Lalaine Brionis with the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia went before the State Senate Judiciary Committee to present their case for the approval of HB993.

Powell told the Committee there is nothing in the current State statute that specifically addresses the process and problem of grooming.

Brionis went over several proposed amendments to the bill that would further clarify the definition of grooming.

During testimony before the Committee, Powell said the bill is based on an incident in Hart County in which an 11-year-old girl was groomed for years by her gymnastics coach at the Bell Family YMCA in Hartwell.

Last week, the girl’s mother, Susan Cobb, also testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding how her daughter was allegedly groomed for sex and how her daughter kept it secret from them for years.

She said her daughter later told her that the suspect warned her daughter not to tell because he would go to jail and her parents would be killed.

Cobb said it wasn’t until her daughter saw her gymnastics coach allegedly use the same tactics on his younger students that she realized what had really happened to her.

She added that her daughter committed suicide at the age of 20 after finding out her alleged molester, who had been arrested, was released on bond.

The case in Hartwell has not yet gone to trial.

After hearing from Susan Cobb, questions arose among committee members regarding what constitutes the age of consent versus the age considered a minor under the Sexual Exploitation statute.

HB993 defines a minor as someone under the age of 18 whereas the State defines the age of consent as 16.

In her testimony, Cobb said her daughter “lost her innocence” at the age of 14 to a man 17 years her senior. She added her daughter did not come forward until she was 18 when she saw her attacker grooming other young girls at the gym.

After more discussion, Senator Bo Hatchett motioned to approve the bill.

Judiciary Committee Chair Senator Brian Strickland, however, recommended the Committee meet again to discuss the definition of grooming and work on clarifying the substitute bill before voting on whether to pass the bill.