II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 855 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to make it a criminal offense for 

individuals to engage in sexual acts while acting under color of law 

or with individuals in their custody, to encourage States to adopt similar 

laws, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. ERNST) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to make it a criminal 

offense for individuals to engage in sexual acts while 

acting under color of law or with individuals in their 

custody, to encourage States to adopt similar laws, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Closing the Law En5 forcement Consent Loophole Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ENGAGING IN SEXUAL ACTS 

2 WHILE ACTING UNDER COLOR OF LAW. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2243 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end 

6 the following: ‘‘or by any person acting 

7 under color of law’’; 

8 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

9 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 

10 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(c) OF AN INDIVIDUAL BY ANY PERSON ACTING

13 UNDER COLOR OF LAW.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, acting under 

15 color of law, knowingly engages in a sexual act with 

16 an individual, including an individual who is under 

17 arrest, in detention, or otherwise in the actual cus18 tody of any Federal law enforcement officer, shall be 

19 fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 15 

20 years, or both. 

21 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

22 ‘sexual act’ has the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 2246.’’; and 

24 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by 

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) In a prosecution under subsection (c), it is not 

2 a defense that the other individual consented to the sexual 

3 act.’’. 

4 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 2246 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(7) the term ‘Federal law enforcement officer’ 

13 has the meaning given the term in section 115.’’. 

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 for chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, is 

16 amended by amending the item related to section 2243 

17 to read as follows: 

‘‘2243. Sexual abuse of a minor or ward or by any person acting under color 

of law.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. INCENTIVES FOR STATES. 

19 (a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Attorney 

20 General is authorized to make grants to States that have 

21 in effect a law that— 

22 (1) makes it a criminal offense for any person 

23 acting under color of law of the State to engage in 

24 a sexual act with an individual, including an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S855.IS S855

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1 vidual who is under arrest, in detention, or otherwise 

2 in the actual custody of any law enforcement officer; 

3 and 

4 (2) prohibits a person charged with an offense 

5 described in paragraph (1) from asserting the con6 sent of the other individual as a defense. 

7 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—A State that re8 ceives a grant under this section shall submit to the Attor9 ney General, on an annual basis, information on— 

10 (1) the number of reports made to law enforce11 ment agencies in that State regarding persons en12 gaging in a sexual act while acting under color of 

13 law during the previous year; and 

14 (2) the disposition of each case in which sexual 

15 misconduct by a person acting under color of law 

16 was reported during the previous year. 

17 (c) APPLICATION.—A State seeking a grant under 

18 this section shall submit an application to the Attorney 

19 General at such time, in such manner, and containing 

20 such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 

21 require, including information about the law described in 

22 subsection (a). 

23 (d) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant to a 

24 State under this section shall be in an amount that is not 

25 greater than 10 percent of the average of the total amount 


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1 of funding of the 3 most recent awards that the State re2 ceived under the following grant programs: 

3 (1) Part T of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con4 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10441 

5 et seq.) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘STOP Vio6 lence Against Women Formula Grant Program’’). 

7 (2) Section 41601 of the Violence Against 

8 Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12511) (commonly 

9 referred to as the ‘‘Sexual Assault Services Pro10 gram’’). 

11 (e) GRANT TERM.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

13 provide an increase in the amount provided to a 

14 State under the grant programs described in sub15 section (d) for a 2-year period. 

16 (2) RENEWAL.—A State that receives a grant 

17 under this section may submit an application for a 

18 renewal of such grant at such time, in such manner, 

19 and containing such information as the Attorney 

20 General may reasonably require. 

21 (3) LIMIT.—A State may not receive a grant 

22 under this section for more than 4 years. 

23 (f) USES OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 

24 under this section shall use— 


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1 (1) 25 percent of such funds for any of the per2 missible uses of funds under the grant program de3 scribed in paragraph (1) of subsection (d); and 

4 (2) 75 percent of such funds for any of the per5 missible uses of funds under the grant program de6 scribed in paragraph (2) of subsection (d). 

7 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this chapter 

9 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

10 SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

11 (a) REPORT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not later 

12 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

13 each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit 

14 to Congress a report containing— 

15 (1) the information required to be reported to 

16 the Attorney General under section 3(b); and 

17 (2) information on— 

18 (A) the number of reports made during the 

19 previous year, to Federal law enforcement agen20 cies regarding persons engaging in a sexual act 

21 while acting under color of law; and 

22 (B) the disposition of each case in which 

23 sexual misconduct by a person acting under 

24 color of law was reported. 


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1 (b) REPORT BY GAO.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, and each year there3 after, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

4 submit to Congress a report on any violations of section 

5 2243(c) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by 

6 section 2, committed during the 1-year period covered by 

7 the report. 

8 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

9 In this Act, the term ‘‘sexual act’’ has the meaning 

10 given the term in section 2246 of title 18, United States 

11 Code. 

Æ 


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