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[0:00]
>> Good afternoon, everyone.
[0:01]
My name is Senator Erin Maye
[0:02]
Quade. I represent Senate
[0:03]
district. 56 in the Minnesota
[0:05]
Senate tomorrow. August 1st, it
[0:07]
will be a felony crime in the
[0:09]
state of Minnesota for an adult
[0:10]
to groom a child, the
[0:12]
implementation of House file.
[0:13]
34 89 will also address other
[0:15]
gaps that have made it far too
[0:17]
easy for adults to prey on
[0:18]
children without consequence.
[0:20]
The reason that this bill
[0:21]
exists is heartbreaking.
[0:23]
A band teacher in my own school
[0:24]
district abuse his position to
[0:26]
groom and sexually assault
[0:27]
multiple students gaps in our
[0:29]
laws delayed investigations.
[0:31]
And ultimately this teacher
[0:32]
went largely unpunished.
[0:34]
You'll hear today from the
[0:35]
incredible advocate who made
[0:36]
sure that this bill became law
[0:38]
handle presto and she really
[0:40]
was crucial and instrumental to
[0:42]
how we got here. Her story was
[0:44]
illustrative and she shared it
[0:46]
over and over and over again to
[0:47]
protect Minnesota students and
[0:49]
all children in Minnesota,
[0:50]
student in Minnesota
[0:52]
grooming and sexual assault can
[0:53]
happen to boys and girls.
[0:55]
But girls in particular are
[0:56]
targeted for grooming and
[0:57]
predatory behavior by adults.
[0:59]
I was 9 years old. The first
[1:00]
time a grown man set something
[1:02]
special about my body when I
[1:04]
was 14 years old. One of my
[1:05]
best friends entered into a
[1:06]
relationship with a 24 year-old
[1:08]
man. It is not uncommon for
[1:10]
girls as young as 13 14 do have
[1:12]
boyfriends who are in their
[1:13]
20's. What is happening to
[1:15]
young girls and women in this
[1:16]
world is truly awful. And our
[1:18]
laws often ignore the reality
[1:20]
that far too many of us
[1:21]
experience. And on Saturday,
[1:23]
the law says no more. This is
[1:25]
wrong and it is now a felony
[1:27]
crime before she takes the mic.
[1:29]
I really want to thank Hana and
[1:30]
Detective check class and for
[1:31]
working so closely with me on
[1:33]
this bill. And I thank you for
[1:34]
your bravery and telling your
[1:36]
story. Thank you for turning
[1:37]
something so painful and
[1:38]
difficult into such a
[1:39]
meaningful legislation. It
[1:41]
takes so much work and
[1:42]
vulnerability to show up again
[1:44]
and again and again. An
[1:45]
advocate for change, especially
[1:47]
when it's your own story that
[1:48]
you're going are really telling
[1:49]
to do so. And I'm so grateful
[1:50]
to know both of you and to work
[1:52]
alongside you. This bill is
[1:54]
better. This law is better and
[1:56]
protect Minnesota kids because
[1:57]
of you. And with that, I will
[1:58]
turn it over to Hannah.
[2:04]
Thank you.
[2:07]
>> I'm Hala presto, the victim
[2:08]
survivor of grooming and sexual
[2:10]
assault to story is where this
[2:12]
legislation was born
[2:15]
over a decade ago. I was a girl
[2:17]
going to high school.
[2:19]
The girl who became deeply hurt
[2:21]
by the grooming and sexual
[2:22]
assault. She experienced by her
[2:24]
band teacher.
[2:26]
Then she grew up. It was faced
[2:28]
with the harsh reality of being
[2:29]
told that charges for a case
[2:31]
for being turned down due to
[2:32]
gaps in the law.
[2:34]
That point in time being told
[2:36]
no
[2:38]
taught me something about
[2:39]
creativity.
[2:40]
Creativity comes from
[2:42]
constraints from the turn
[2:44]
downs, the nose from being told
[2:46]
this is the end of the road.
[2:49]
It's when I was left with no
[2:50]
other options that I have the
[2:51]
greatest opportunity to create
[2:53]
something that's never existed
[2:54]
before.
[2:56]
It created a proposal for the
[2:58]
changes that needed to be made
[2:59]
to protect other kids from
[3:00]
grooming and sexual abuse at
[3:02]
school.
[3:03]
And if it weren't for the
[3:04]
support of my detectives and
[3:06]
the even police department,
[3:07]
especially in those early days,
[3:10]
I would have thought it was
[3:10]
impossible for someone like
[3:12]
need to change the law.
[3:14]
But I'm here to report back
[3:15]
that remarkably, it's not
[3:19]
I celebrate these new law
[3:20]
changes. Yes, but even more.
[3:22]
So I celebrate the unity and
[3:24]
togetherness behind them.
[3:27]
This legislation didn't just
[3:28]
pass. It passed unanimously in
[3:31]
every committee and every floor
[3:32]
vote because this matters to
[3:34]
all of us.
[3:35]
It will always be grateful to
[3:37]
the bipartisan authors Co
[3:39]
authors and legislative staff.
[3:41]
He supported me here at the
[3:42]
Capitol.
[3:44]
Thank you for listening to me,
[3:45]
including in the process and
[3:47]
believing in the power of my
[3:49]
story
[3:50]
because of you. I got to
[3:52]
witness our lawmakers,
[3:53]
stakeholders and community
[3:54]
members said their differences
[3:56]
aside to help me protect our
[3:58]
young people from grooming
[4:01]
and it worked because we did it
[4:02]
together as a team
[4:05]
since the bill passed. I've
[4:06]
been asked so many times now.
[4:08]
How does it feel? Hannah?
[4:11]
It feels like time travel.
[4:13]
It feels like I went back to
[4:15]
rescue little Hannah
[4:17]
all those years ago. She got
[4:18]
left behind in the fan-less and
[4:20]
room in the basement of my high
[4:21]
school
[4:23]
and I went back for we went
[4:25]
back for her together
[4:28]
being groomed and sexually
[4:29]
assaulted. Force me to grow up
[4:31]
too fast.
[4:32]
I want more kids to be able to
[4:34]
just be kids.
[4:36]
And I'm so happy to celebrate
[4:38]
that tomorrow. We've increased
[4:39]
those odds.
[4:42]
This is the ending to the story
[4:43]
I want.
[4:45]
If I could have chosen between
[4:46]
charges from a case or this,
[4:48]
I choose this
[4:50]
a far better outcome for our
[4:52]
communities and a happier
[4:53]
ending for me. Thank you.
[5:00]
>> We will take questions.
[5:06]
>> Senate where it is loaded
[5:09]
with what changes with it in
[5:10]
terms of what happens to these.
[5:13]
>> French's. Yeah. So it is now
[5:16]
a felony crime to groom a child
[5:18]
in the state of Minnesota.
[5:19]
So it's one of the highest
[5:21]
charges you could possibly get
[5:23]
other gaps that were closed.
[5:26]
We don't allow the grooming of
[5:28]
children no matter the age if
[5:29]
it is a school employee or
[5:31]
contract employee because we do
[5:33]
have students in the state of
[5:33]
Minnesota who go to school up
[5:35]
to the age of 22. We also have
[5:38]
protections for people in
[5:39]
positions from people in
[5:40]
positions of authority. So
[5:42]
that's outside of schools that
[5:43]
could be soccer coaches or boy
[5:45]
or girl scout leaders or
[5:47]
pastors are faith leaders.
[5:48]
So we really did kind of go
[5:50]
across the board on combating
[5:51]
to say where children being
[5:52]
preyed upon and how can they
[5:54]
close those gaps. So felony
[5:56]
penalties and making sure that
[5:58]
age is not taken into account
[6:00]
when its positions of authority
[6:01]
or in a school
[6:08]
Russians.
[6:11]
>> And you kind of touched on
[6:14]
this, but can you tell me a
[6:15]
lie?
[6:17]
>> What this means to being a
[6:18]
little girl in being told that
[6:19]
like, sorry, nothing, we can do
[6:21]
it. Now. You're doing something
[6:23]
major for so many other little
[6:25]
kids who have been in your same
[6:26]
position. Can you tell me what
[6:27]
this means to you?
[6:30]
>> Yeah, I mean, it's it's
[6:32]
something I never would have
[6:34]
imagined this possible for
[6:35]
myself. Certainly. I think
[6:39]
when I was turned down, it hurt
[6:41]
us from a case returned down by
[6:43]
the county. If if in that
[6:45]
moment someone had said to me,
[6:47]
well, then you should just
[6:48]
change the law. I would have
[6:49]
thought that was crazy
[6:51]
and not possible at all.
[6:54]
And so I think that just as
[6:56]
experience of all the support
[6:58]
that I've received
[7:00]
from all different kinds of
[7:01]
people that have wanted to see
[7:03]
me succeed and see the changes
[7:05]
being made has really shown me
[7:08]
how it is possible to
[7:10]
accomplish great things.
[7:12]
If
[7:13]
you asked for help and you're
[7:16]
willing to be vulnerable and
[7:17]
courageous and be a part of a
[7:19]
team that's really all gonna
[7:21]
come together to see this
[7:22]
through.
[7:25]
>> A question for you,
[7:26]
obviously grooming in child
[7:28]
sexual abuse is
[7:30]
a big deal and that one law
[7:32]
will just help to stop all of
[7:33]
that. Are there other things
[7:34]
that you guys are looking at
[7:36]
are doing to help protect
[7:38]
children more?
[7:39]
>> Yes, I actually haven't set
[7:41]
of bills that are directly
[7:43]
dealing with this issue.
[7:43]
So one of them is removing the
[7:45]
statute of limitations on child
[7:47]
sexual abuse victims seeking
[7:48]
civil penalties against their
[7:50]
abusers. I have one that
[7:52]
increases the age of consent
[7:53]
from 16 to 18 because it is far
[7:55]
too young and the state of
[7:56]
Minnesota. I have one that
[7:58]
deals with increased penalties
[8:00]
for adults who are mandated
[8:03]
reporters and are aware of
[8:05]
child sexual abuse that is
[8:06]
occurring and have a
[8:08]
relationship with the adults,
[8:09]
not the child because right now
[8:11]
the statute is constructed.
[8:13]
It imagines that an adult comes
[8:14]
across a child in the course of
[8:15]
their work and is reported to
[8:16]
them. There are far more adults
[8:19]
who are aware of the adults who
[8:20]
are committing the sexual abuse
[8:21]
and not mandated reporting.
[8:23]
I think there might be 2 more
[8:25]
in that suite of bills. But
[8:26]
this is this is a huge first
[8:28]
step. Absolutely. But there is
[8:29]
more that we can and should do
[8:31]
in the state of Minnesota and
[8:32]
those bills that I just
[8:32]
mentioned. They are all
[8:33]
bipartisan. And so I really
[8:35]
hope to get those across the
[8:36]
finish line next session.
[8:38]
You know, if I returned, but
[8:39]
it's very, very important work.
[8:40]
And this was a huge step.
[8:42]
Great. Thank you so much.
[8:45]
Any other questions.
[8:48]
All right. Thank you all so
[8:49]
much.