Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
On Thursday, the “Tennessee Anti-Grooming Act” unanimously passed the Senate after being quickly passed through the House Wednesday when it was pulled from behind the budget at the last hour.
SB2566 by Sen. Janice Bowling is intended to protect minors from sexual exploitation by criminalizing grooming behavior, which is explicitly defined in the legislation, and supplementing existing child protection laws through the creation of a misdemeanor or felony offense for any adult who engages in the practice of grooming.
Per the bill’s amended language, the offense of grooming will range from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B felony depending on factors including the severity of the offense, the position of trust or authority the offender has over the victim, and the ages of the offender and victim.
The House companion, HB2317 carried by Rep. Jody Barrett, unanimously cleared the House 92-0 on Wednesday evening and then the Senate 26-0 on Thursday.
On the Senate floor, Democrat Sen. Sara Kyle expressed concerns that “grooming conduct” was not clearly defined enough, despite the parameters being specifically noted in the bill’s amendment, worrying it could lead to those like librarians giving a “banned” book to a child potentially falling under the grooming offense.
She also presented theoretical scenarios wherein she believes two divorcing parents could misconstrue or weaponize the offense against the other, or individuals in other positions requiring relationships or contact with children, like social workers or mentors, could come under scrutiny.
“Of course, you may have a parent that takes their kid to a movie every Friday night, takes their child to play golf, as many of you parents and fathers do, you have a boy or a girl, you were with him in some activity to expose them to the better things of life for their health and mental welfare, that would be a subjective situation on grooming. You have DCS workers who try to build a relationship with a child in order to gain their confidence. A school counselor came to mind, with me, or there may be two children in the home, and one happens to be LGBT, would they be considered grooming the other sibling?” she elaborated.
“I know that you’re very sincere in your work on principles that you think should govern the state of Tennessee, but this good intent doesn’t necessarily make a good law. It criminalizes a behavior without defining a standard that would separate it from being legal or unlawful. And again, we’re facing a subjective situation,” Kyle continued.
In response, Sen. Bowling reminded the body that peer-reviewed scientific literature indicates between 35-45% of all children of sexual abusers have been the subject of “predatory behavioral patterns”, also known as grooming, prior to the actual sexual contact offenses. She also noted that nearly all adult survivors of child sexual abuse report having experienced such grooming behaviors.
Bowling also relayed the usage of the empirically validated sexual grooming model from the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse in the development of the legislation, saying, “This bill does in fact identify what grooming is and put it in code.”
After continued opposition, Sen. Kyle ultimately marked herself “Present Not Voting” during the vote while all other Democrats and Republicans who did cast a vote unanimously voted “Yes”.
As the Senate conformed to HB2317 and did not have any amendments different from the House version, the bill can now move to Governor Lee for his signature into law. Once signed, the legislation will take effect on July 1, 2026.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
