child enticement is a crime that involves an adult persuading, or attempting to persuade, a child to accompany him or her for the purposes of sexual activity. The type of situations that can lead to child enticement charges differs from state to state. For instance, many states now have specific laws that define online child enticement as using the Internet or other form of electronic communication to entice a child for sexual activity. A more traditional example of child enticement might include persuading a child to enter a car or accompany the adult to a remote location for the purposes of sexual activity. However, while child enticement laws generally focus on enticement for the purposes of sexual activity, some state child enticement statutes also encompass situations where the child is enticed for purposes other than sexual activity, such as to provide the child with drugs, or to expose the child to pornography.
Types of Child Enticement
The different types of child enticement laws vary according to the jurisdiction; whereas some states have very specific child enticement statutes that apply to certain situations, other states have much more general statutes. Some examples of the different types of child enticement include:
- Online Enticement of a Child for Sexual Activity
- Criminal Enticement of a Child Involving a Vehicle
- Soliciting a Child for Prostitution
- Attempted Child Enticement
- Child Enticement Via Telephone
Laws Governing Child Enticement
Child enticement can result in both state and federal criminal charges. State criminal charges can be felonies or misdemeanors, depending on the facts surrounding the alleged child enticement, as well as the particular provisions of the applicable state law. On the other hand, the federal child enticement statute, located at U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2422, makes it a felony to engage in the enticement of a child under eighteen (18) years of age for the purposes of engaging in criminal sexual activity, if it occurs on federal property or via the Internet. Therefore, while some states are prosecuting online child enticement, the federal government is also engaging in the prosecution of this particular form of the crime.
Charges for Child Enticement
In all states, child enticement law classify criminal charges as felonies, but some states will reduce criminal child enticement penalties and charges to misdemeanor charges, especially if the child victims are older teenagers, or between the ages of fourteen (14) and seventeen (17). On the federal level, child enticement is a felony. While conviction of a misdemeanor criminal charge necessarily results in lesser penalties than a felony conviction, a misdemeanor can still result in at least a short period of incarceration, depending on the jurisdiction.
Conviction of child enticement in many states also will result in required sex offender registration, at least for a certain period of time. While the type of crimes that require sex offender registration currently are different in each state, Congress recently passed the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act, which sets forth minimum federal standards for sex offender registries that states must now meet.
