In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, members of the Arizona House passed Rep. Travis Grantham’s anti-grooming bill.
The bill, HB 2310, which makes grooming a criminal offense, passed on a 44-11-2 vote, with Reps. Travers and Seaman not voting.
✅PASSED✅
House approves Representative @TravisGratham’s #HB2310 to establish grooming as a criminal offense classified as either a class 4 felony or a class 5 felony depending on the relationship between the defendant and the victim. The bill now moved to the Senate.… pic.twitter.com/wOMFqgqttE— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) February 6, 2024
Specifically, the bill “establishes grooming as a criminal offense classified as either a class 4 felony or a class 5 felony depending on the relationship between the defendant and the victim:”
HB2310 creates “the criminal offense of grooming, which involves a person knowingly using an electronic communication device as defined in A.R.S. § 13-3561, performing an act in person or through a third party or using any written communication to seduce, lure or entice or attempt to seduce, lure or entice a minor to do either of the following:
a) commit any offense in A.R.S. title 13 in furtherance of facilitating the sexual seduction or abuse of the minor; or
b) distribute photographs that depict a person’s sex organs. (Sec. 2)
2. Classifies grooming as a class 5 felony unless the defendant is in a position of trust, in which case the offense becomes a class 4 felony. (Sec. 2)
3. Makes the Romeo and Juliet Law applicable in grooming prosecutions. (Sec. 1)
4. Amends the Romeo and Juliet Law by removing the requirement that the defendant be under 19 years old or attending high school and raising the applicable age-difference between the victim and the defendant from 24 months to 3 years. (Sec. 1)
The bill now moves to the Senate.
At its December 4th meeting, the Arizona State Board of Education took action on over 30 recommendations regarding teacher discipline and certification.
In one of the most bizarre cases, one educator, Jon Dowe Kizzia, was fired for inappropriate behavior in the Paradise Valley School District only to be hired by the Scottsdale Unified School District. Eventually Kizzia’s behavior became so alarming that the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at the Scottsdale Unified School District reported Kizzia’s unprofessional conduct:
On or around August 19, 2022, the School’s administration was notified by the parent of a sixth-grade special education student, Student A, that Educator Kizzia had been distributing paperwork to this student’s sixth-grade class that was inappropriate and contained sexual content.
Through the School’s investigation, over 600 pages of documentation from Educator Kizzia were discovered that included questionnaires asking inappropriate questions regarding sex, drug usage, and other fact-finding “grooming” questions. These questionnaires were not sanctioned by the District.
Some of the questions within the questionnaire included:
“How do you practice safe sexual behavior?”
“Do I know what I need to know about sex?”
“Resisting pressure to have sex.”
“Have you ever been asked to keep a secret?”
“Did you keep it?”
“Describe what it felt like to know a secret but not be able to tell anyone about it.”
“I use food, drugs, or alcohol as a way to cope.”
“Resisting pressure to drink or use drugs.”
“I would never break a law, no matter how minor.”
“Whether or not I get into a car accident depends mostly on how good a driver I am.”
“Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me can’t really understand what’s going on.”
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Arizona State Board Of Education Disciplines Teachers For “Grooming” And Drinking And More