Sex Offender Law being Strengthened in Iowa

Iowans pride themselves on having a safe state to call home. There are many reasons our state continually ranks as one of the best places to live and a key reason is the effective approach to crime and in particularly crimes involving sex abuse. The Judiciary and Public Safety committees have been reviewing numerous bills aimed at protecting Iowans from sex offenders and ensuring our state remains a safe place to live.

HF 201-Sexual Extortion and Sex Offender Registry Requirements

HF 201 requires a person who is convicted of extortion to register as a sex offender if it is determined that the crime was sexually motivated. The bill also prevents state shopping by requiring a sex offender who is registered in another state, but who lives in Iowa, must serve their time on their registry either under the convicting state or Iowa’s laws, whichever is longer. This prevents a sex offender from coming to Iowa for a shorter sentence on the registry.

HF 231- Burglary and Sexual Abuse

HF 231 A person who is convicted of sexual abuse committed during a robbery shall also be sentenced to a special sentence, the sex offender registry.

HF 233- Disclosure of Private Sexually Explicit Images

HF 233 is the Uniform Civil Remedies for Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act. A person whose private intimate images are disclosed by another, without permission, may bring a civil lawsuit against the person who disclosed the image.This helps protect victims of revenge pornography.

HF 281- Definition of Sex Act

HF 281 expands the definition of sex act to close loopholes in the law. The definition of body parts is amended in criminal code to ensure offenders don’t avoid prosecution on a technicality. The bill also expands the definition of criminal sex act to include the touching of one’s self at the direction of another person.

HF 489-Adam Walsh Sex Offender Registry Compliance

HF 489 should bring Iowa into compliance with federal sex offender registry laws. The bill amends how long an offender must be on the registry before petitioning the court for modification. The changes will ensure the sex offenders serve their time on the sex offender registry after being released from prison.

SF 253- Sexual Abuse and Definition of Child

SF 253 changes the definition of “child” in sexual abuse 2nd and 3rd degree. Under current law a “child” in these crimes is considered someone under the age of 12, SF 253 changes the definition to someone under the age of 14. Under current law, a person who sexually abuses an 11-year-old faces a 25-year sentence with a 70% mandatory minimum, whereas the exact same abuse done to a 12-year-old is only subject to a 10-year punishment with no minimum sentence.

Forum Schedule This year, due to COVID-19, we will be holding our forums through an online form called Webex. If you would like to take part in the forums, you will need to pre-register by emailing Representative Fry at joel.fry@legis.iowa.gov. Once you have emailed him, you will then receive an email 24 hours prior to each meeting with a link to join the meeting. The schedule for the forums will be:March 4 at noonApril 1 at noon