104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2974

AN ACT

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enalties for crimes against elderly and child victims. forcement Act of 1994 to provide enhanced pen-
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2974

AN ACT

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement

Act of 1994 to provide enhanced penalties for crimes

against elderly and child victims.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•HR 2974 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crimes Against Chil3 dren and Elderly Persons Increased Punishment Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR VULNERABLE VICTIMS.

5 Section 240002 of the Violent Crime Control and

6 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended to read as fol7 lows:

8 ‘‘SEC. 240002. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR VULNERABLE

9 VICTIMS.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Sentencing

11 Commission shall amend the Federal sentencing guidelines

12 to provide a sentencing enhancement of not less than 5

13 levels above the offense level otherwise provided for a

14 crime of violence, including those crimes of violence involv15 ing the environment, if the crime of violence is against

16 a child, elderly person, or other vulnerable person. If the

17 crime of violence is also a sex crime against a child, the

18 enhancement provided under the preceding sentence shall

19 be 6 instead of 5 levels.

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘crime of violence’ has the mean22 ing given that term in section 16 of title 18, United

23 States Code;

24 ‘‘(2) the term ‘child’ means a person who is 14

25 years of age, or younger;
3

•HR 2974 EH

1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘elderly person’ means a person

2 who is 65 years of age or older; and

3 ‘‘(4) the term ‘vulnerable person’ means a per4 son whom the defendant knew or should have known

5 was unusually vulnerable due to age, physical or

6 mental condition, or otherwise particularly suscep7 tible to the criminal conduct, or is a victim of an of8 fense under section 2241(e) of title 18, United

9 States Code.’’.

10 SEC. 3. SHORT TITLE.

11 The following sections may be cited as the ‘‘Amber

12 Hagerman Child Protection Act of 1996’’.

13 SEC. 4. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR FEDERAL SEX OF14 FENSES AGAINST CHILDREN.

15 (a) AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR.—

16 Section 2241(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amend17 ed—

18 (1) by inserting ‘‘whoever in interstate or for19 eign commerce or’’ before ‘‘in the special’’;

20 (2) by inserting ‘‘crosses a State line with in21 tent to engage in a sexual act with a person who has

22 not attained the age of 12 years, or’’ after ‘‘Who23 ever’’; and

24 (3) by adding at the end of the following: ‘‘If

25 the defendant has previously been convicted of an-
4

•HR 2974 EH

1 other Federal offense under this subsection or under

2 section 2243(a), or of a State offense that would

3 have been an offense under either such provision had

4 the offense occurred in a Federal prison, unless the

5 death penalty is imposed, the defendant shall be sen6 tenced to life in prison.’’.

7 (b) SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR.—Section 2243(a)

8 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘whoever in interstate for for10 eign commerce or’’ before ‘‘in the special’’;

11 (2) by inserting ‘‘crosses a State line with in12 tent to engage in a sexual act with a person who,

13 or’’ after ‘‘Whoever’’; and

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the

15 defendant has previously been convicted of another

16 Federal offense under this subsection or under sec17 tion 2241(c), or of a State offense that would have

18 been an offense under either such provision had the

19 offense occurred in a Federal prison, unless the

20 death penalty is imposed, the defendant shall be sen21 tenced to life in prison.’’.

22 SEC. 5. FEDERAL JURISDICTION OVER RAPE AND SEXUAL

23 ASSAULT CASES.

24 Section 2241 of title 18, United States Code, is

25 amended by adding at the end the following:
5

•HR 2974 EH

1 ‘‘(e) PUNISHMENT FOR SEXUAL PREDATORS.—(1)

2 Whoever, in a circumstance described in paragraph (2) of

3 this subsection—

4 ‘‘(A) violates this section; or

5 ‘‘(B) engages in conduct that would violate this

6 section, if the conduct had occurred in the special

7 maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United

8 States, and—

9 ‘‘(i) that conduct is in interstate or foreign

10 commerce;

11 ‘‘(ii) the person engaging in that conduct

12 crossed a State line with intent to engage in the

13 conduct; or

14 ‘‘(iii) the person engaging in that conduct

15 thereafter engages in conduct that is a violation

16 of section 1073(1) with respect to an offense

17 that consists of the conduct so engaged in;

18 shall be imprisoned for life.

19 ‘‘(2) The circumstance referred to in paragraph (1)

20 of this subsection is that the defendant has previously

21 been convicted of another State or Federal offense for con22 duct which—

23 ‘‘(A) is an offense under this section or section

24 2242 of this title; or
6

•HR 2974 EH

1 ‘‘(B) would have been an offense under either

2 of such sections if the offense had occurred in the

3 special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the

4 United States.’’.

5 SEC. 6. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO BODY ARMOR.

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

7 ‘‘James Guelff Body Armor Act of 1996’’.

8 (b) SENTENCING ENHANCEMENT.—The United

9 States Sentencing Commission shall amend the Federal

10 sentencing guidlines to provide an appropriate sentencing

11 enhancement for any crime of violence against a vulner12 able person (which for the purposes of this section shall

13 include a law enforcement officer) as defined in section

14 240002 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce15 ment Act of 1994 in which the defendant used body

16 armor.

17 (c) For purposes of this section—

18 (1) the term ‘‘body armor’’ means any product

19 sold or offered for sale as personal protective body

20 covering intended to protect against gunfire, regard21 less of whether the product is to be worn alone or

22 is sold as a complement to another product or gar23 ment; and

24 (2) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means

25 any officer, agent, or employee of the United States,
7

•HR 2974 EH

1 a State, or a political subdivision of a State, author2 ized by law or by a government agency to engage in

3 or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation,

4 or prosecution of any violation of criminal law.

5 SEC. 7. AMENDMENT OF SENTENCING GUIDELINES TO PRO6 VIDE FOR ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR A DE7 FENDANT WHO COMMITS A CRIME WHILE IN

8 POSSESSION OF A FIREARM WITH A LASER

9 SIGHTING DEVICE.

10 Not later than May 1, 1997, the United States Sen11 tencing Commission shall, pursuant to its authority under

12 section 994 of title 28, United States Code, amend the

13 sentencing guidelines (and, if the Commission considers

14 it appropriate, the policy statements of the Commission)

15 to provide that a defendant convicted of a crime of violence

16 against a child, elderly person, or other vulnerable person

17 (as such terms are defined in section 240002(b) of the

18 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994)

19 shall receive an appropriate sentence enhancement if, dur20 ing the crime—

21 (1) the defendant possessed a firearm equipped

22 with a laser sighting device; or

23 (2) the defendant possessed a firearm, and the

24 defendant (or another person at the scene of the

25 crime who was aiding in the commission of the
8

•HR 2974 EH

1 crime) possessed a laser sighting device capable of

2 being readily attached to the firearm.

Passed the House of Representatives May 7, 1996.

Attest:

Clerk.