California prosecutors now have a tougher charging option for a specific and disturbing category of crime: sexual touching that happens after someone unlawfully breaks into a victim's home. Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1741, legislation designed to close a gap that previously left some of these offenders facing only a misdemeanor charge.
What the Safe at Home Act Changes
The new law, dubbed the Safe at Home Act, amends California Penal Code section 243.4, according to Patch. As reported by the Uken Report, the bill strengthens accountability for offenders who unlawfully enter a victim's home and commit a sexual offense. Under the law as it stood before, certain offenders who broke into a residence and sexually touched a victim could face only a misdemeanor sexual battery charge.
AB 1741 changes that by making unlawful sexual touching following an illegal residential entry a wobbler, per the same account from Patch. A wobbler is an offense that can be charged or sentenced as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances, the Uken Report notes. That distinction matters because it gives prosecutors room to pursue felony charges in cases that once could only be treated as lesser offenses.
Riverside County DA's Office Sponsored the Bill
The legislation was sponsored by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, which pushed for the change in law. It was introduced by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, D-Downey, according to the article from Patch. The bill was approved by the governor on Sunday and chaptered the same day by the Secretary of State, per the same source, though the evidence does not establish exactly when the new charging option takes effect.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Ivy Fitzpatrick said the Riverside County District Attorney's Office is proud to sponsor the legislation. Fitzpatrick added that victims deserve to know that the law recognizes the full severity of what happened to them, as reported by Patch. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office also thanked Assemblymember Pacheco for her leadership in advancing AB 1741 and thanked Gov. Newsom for signing it, according to the Uken Report.
What Remains Unclear
The evidence reviewed does not include the precise amended statutory language now in effect, nor does it establish the maximum prison exposure prosecutors could seek under the new felony option. How courts and district attorneys across the state will apply the wobbler standard in individual cases has also not been detailed in the available record.
