NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8609A

Current Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 25, 2026	amended on third reading 8609a
Feb 03, 2026	advanced to third reading
Jan 29, 2026	2nd report cal.
Jan 28, 2026	1st report cal.205
Jan 07, 2026	referred to codes
Dec 08, 2025	referred to rules

Votes

- Jan 28, 2026 - Codes Committee Vote
  S8609A
  
  Aye
  
  13
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  
  0
  - - Codes Committee Vote: Jan 28, 2026
      
      aye (13)
      
      Bailey
      
      Brisport
      
      Cooney
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gounardes
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Murray
      
      Myrie
      
      O'Mara
      
      Palumbo
      
      Persaud
      
      Salazar
      
      Sepúlveda

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

co-Sponsors

2025-S8609 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9214
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§230.05, 230.06, 230.11, 230.32 & 230.33, Pen L

2025-S8609 - Summary

Enacts the "victims protection and child sex buyer accountability act" relating to increasing the age of victims of the patronizing, promoting, and compelling of prostitution.

2025-S8609 - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8609

SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to enacting the "victims
protection and child sex buyer accountability act"

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will close dangerous loopholes in New York State law that
currently leave fifteen-to seventeen-year-old minors unprotected from
commercial sexual exploitation; to ensure that all minors under eighteen
are fully covered by prostitution-related statutes; and to conform New
York State law with federal and virtually all other state laws that make
it a felony for individuals to purchase sex from minors.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 names the bill the "Victims Protection and Child Sex Buyer
Accountability Act."

Section 2 amends § 230.05 of the penal law to raise the age threshold
from under fifteen to under eighteen for second-degree patronizing.

Section 3 amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of § 230.06 of the penal law to
raise the age threshold from under thirteen to under fifteen for first-
degree patronizing.

Section 4 amends the first undesignated paragraph of § 230.11 of the
penal law to raise the age for sexual contact-based offenses.

Section 5 amends § 230.32 of the penal law to remove offender age thres-
holds and apply to any person who promotes prostitution of a child under
the age of fifteen.

Section 6 amends § 230.33 of the penal law to include deception, manipu-
lation, coercion, abuse of trust or authority, and the exploitation of a
position of power, dependency, or emotional control in the definition of
"compelling prostitution."

Section 7 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York law has long failed to fully protect all minors from sexual
exploitation. Although federal law considers anyone under eighteen
involved in commercial sex to be a victim of sex trafficking, New York's
Penal Law only extends full felony protection to those under fifteen or
seventeen depending on the charge. This outdated tiered framework has
created a glaring loophole: a person can pay for sex with a fifteen,
sixteen, or seventeen-year-old and avoid the most serious consequences
simply because of the victim's age. Given that a significant percentage
of child sexual exploitation victims in New York are girls and young
people of color, this lack of recognition under the law as both children
and crime victims can be seen a form of adultification bias - an estab-
lished form of implicit bias whereby children of color, often Black
children, are perceived as older and less innocent than their peers by
adults and systems professionals.  In addition, given the significant
and relentless issue of online exploitation of minors, this law would
give law enforcement the necessary tools to address the issue of adults
buying minors for sex on the Internet in New York State.

This bill ends this injustice by establishing a uniform, bright-line
rule determining that all children under the age of eighteen are legally
incapable of consenting to commercial sex and ensures that sex buyers
who exploit a minor's vulnerability face appropriate felony charges.

In addition, the bill updates the statute on "compelling prostitution"
to reflect modern trafficking dynamics, including manipulation, psycho-
logical coercion, and abuse of trust tactics frequently used in
"boyfriend" or grooming-based exploitation.

Importantly, the bill would only apply to sex buyers over the age of 21
given New York's raisethe-age statute. Moreover, minor buyers would
benefit greatly from a youth justice response, including services and
community-based support.

To conclude, this legislation: (1) brings New York in line with federal
law that no one under eighteen can legally be patronized or prostituted;
(2) reflects a trauma-informed approach rooted in survivor experience;
and (3) ensures that buyers and traffickers-not the exploited-bear the
weight of accountability.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S8609 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8609
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             December 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MYRIE  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in  relation  to  enacting  the  "victims
   protection and child sex buyer accountability act"
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "victims protection and child sex buyer accountability act".
   §  2.  The first undesignated paragraph of section 230.05 of the penal
 law, as amended by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   A  person  is  guilty  of patronizing a person for prostitution in the
 second degree when, being eighteen years old or more, [he or  she]  SUCH
 PERSON patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is
 less than [fifteen] EIGHTEEN years old.
   §  3.  Subdivisions  1  and  2  of section 230.06 of the penal law, as
 amended by chapter 368 of the laws of  2015,  are  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   1.  [He  or  she] SUCH PERSON patronizes a person for prostitution and
 the person patronized is less than eleven years old; or
   2. Being eighteen years old or more, [he or she] SUCH  PERSON  patron-
 izes  a  person  for prostitution and the person patronized is less than
 [thirteen] FIFTEEN years old.
   § 4. The first undesignated paragraph of section 230.11 of  the  penal
 law,  as added by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as
 follows:
   A person is guilty of aggravated patronizing a minor for  prostitution
 in  the  third  degree  when, being twenty-one years old or more, [he or
 she] SUCH PERSON patronizes a person for  prostitution  and  the  person
 patronized  is  less  than [seventeen] EIGHTEEN years old and the person
 guilty of patronizing engages in vaginal  sexual  contact,  oral  sexual
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13861-01-5

 S. 8609                             2
 
 contact,  anal  sexual  contact,  or  aggravated sexual contact as those
 terms are defined in section  130.00  of  this  part,  with  the  person
 patronized.
   §  5.  Section 230.32 of the penal law, as added by chapter 627 of the
 laws of 1978, the opening paragraph and subdivisions 1 and 2 as  amended
 by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015,  is amended to read as follows:
 § 230.32 Promoting prostitution in the first degree.
   A  person is guilty of promoting prostitution in the first degree when
 [he or she:
   1. knowingly advances or profits from prostitution of  a  person  less
 than thirteen years old; or
   2. being twenty-one years old or more, he or she] SUCH PERSON knowing-
 ly  advances  or profits from prostitution of a person less than fifteen
 years old.
   Promoting prostitution in the first degree is a class B felony.
   § 6. The first undesignated paragraph of section 230.33 of  the  penal
 law,  as  amended by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read
 as follows:
   A person is guilty of compelling  prostitution  when,  being  eighteen
 years  old or more, [he or she] SUCH PERSON knowingly advances prostitu-
 tion by compelling a person less than eighteen years old  TO  ENGAGE  IN
 PROSTITUTION, WHETHER by force [or], intimidation, [to engage in prosti-
 tution]  DECEPTION, MANIPULATION, COERCION, ABUSE OF TRUST OR AUTHORITY,
 OR BY EXPLOITING A POSITION OF POWER, DEPENDENCY, OR EMOTIONAL CONTROL.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

co-Sponsors

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9214
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§230.05, 230.06, 230.11, 230.32 & 230.33, Pen L

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the "victims protection and child sex buyer accountability act" relating to increasing the age of victims of the patronizing, promoting, and compelling of prostitution.

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8609A

SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to enacting the "victims
protection and child sex buyer accountability act"

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will close dangerous loopholes in New York State law that
currently leave fifteen- to seventeen-year-old minors unprotected from
commercial sexual exploitation; to ensure that all minors under eighteen
are fully covered by prostitution-related statutes; and to conform New
York State law with federal and virtually all other state laws that make
it a felony for individuals to purchase sex from minors.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 names the bill the "Victims Protection and Child Sex Buyer
Accountability Act."

Section 2 amends § 230.05 of the penal law to raise the age threshold
from under fifteen to under eighteen for second-degree patronizing.

Section 3 amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of § 230.06 of the penal law to
raise the age threshold from under thirteen to under fifteen for first-
degree patronizing.

Section 4 amends the first undesignated paragraph of § 230.11 of the
penal law to raise the age for sexual contact-based offenses.

Section 5 amends § 230.32 of the penal law to remove offender age thres-
holds and apply to any person who promotes prostitution of a child under
the age of fifteen.

Section 6 amends § 230.33 of the penal law to include deception, manipu-
lation, coercion, abuse of trust or authority, and the exploitation of a
position of power, dependency, or emotional control in the definition of
"compelling prostitution."

Section 7 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York law has long failed to fully protect all minors from sexual
exploitation. Although federal law considers anyone under eighteen
involved in commercial sex to be a victim of sex trafficking, New York's
Penal Law only extends full felony protection to those under fifteen or
seventeen depending on the charge. This outdated tiered framework has
created a glaring loophole: a person can pay for sex with a fifteen-,
sixteen-, or seventeen-year-old and avoid the most serious consequences
simply because of the victim's age. Given that a significant percentage
of child sexual exploitation victims in New York are girls and young
people of color, this lack of recognition under the law as both children
and crime victims can be seen as a form of adultification bias - an
established form of implicit bias whereby children of color, often Black
children, are perceived as older and less innocent than their peers by
adults and systems professionals. In addition, given the significant and
relentless issue of online exploitation of minors, this law would give
law enforcement the necessary tools to address the issue of adults
buying minors for sex on the Internet in New York State.

This bill ends this injustice by establishing a uniform, bright-line
rule determining that all children under the age of eighteen are legally
incapable of consenting to commercial sex and ensures that sex buyers
who exploit a minor's vulnerability face appropriate felony charges.

In addition, the bill updates the statute on "compelling prostitution"
to reflect modern trafficking dynamics, including manipulation, psycho-
logical coercion, and abuse of trust tactics frequently used in
"boyfriend" or grooming-based exploitation.

Importantly, the bill would only apply to sex buyers over the age of 21
given New York's raise-the-age statute. Moreover, minor buyers would
benefit greatly from a youth justice response, including services and
community-based support.

To conclude, this legislation: (1) brings New York in line with federal
law that no one under eighteen can legally be patronized or prostituted;
(2) reflects a trauma-informed approach rooted in survivor experience;
and (3) ensures that buyers and traffickers-not the exploited-bear the
weight of accountability.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  8609--A
     Cal. No. 205
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             December 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. MYRIE, SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered
   printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules --
   recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance with  Senate  Rule
   6,  sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first
   and second report, ordered to a third  reading,  amended  and  ordered
   reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  penal law, in relation to enacting the "victims
   protection and child sex buyer accountability act"
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "victims protection and child sex buyer accountability act".
   § 2. The first undesignated paragraph of section 230.05 of  the  penal
 law,  as  amended by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read
 as follows:
   A person is guilty of patronizing a person  for  prostitution  in  the
 second  degree  when, being eighteen years old or more, [he or she] SUCH
 PERSON patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is
 less than [fifteen] EIGHTEEN years old.
   § 3. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section  230.06  of  the  penal  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  368  of  the  laws of 2015, are amended to read as
 follows:
   1. [He or she] SUCH PERSON patronizes a person  for  prostitution  and
 the person patronized is less than eleven years old; or
   2.  Being  eighteen years old or more, [he or she] SUCH PERSON patron-
 izes a person for prostitution and the person patronized  is  less  than
 [thirteen] FIFTEEN years old.
   §  4.  The first undesignated paragraph of section 230.11 of the penal
 law, as amended by chapter 777 of the laws of 2023, is amended  to  read
 as follows:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13861-03-6

 S. 8609--A                          2
 
   A  person is guilty of aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution
 in the third degree when, being twenty-one years old  or  more,  [he  or
 she]  SUCH  PERSON  patronizes  a person for prostitution and the person
 patronized is less than [seventeen] EIGHTEEN years old  and  the  person
 guilty  of  patronizing  engages  in vaginal sexual contact, oral sexual
 contact, anal sexual contact, or  aggravated  sexual  contact  as  those
 terms  are  defined  in  section  130.00  of  this part, with the person
 patronized.
   § 5. Section 230.32 of the penal law, as added by chapter 627  of  the
 laws  of 1978, the opening paragraph and subdivisions 1 and 2 as amended
 by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015,  is amended to read as follows:
 § 230.32 Promoting prostitution in the first degree.
   A person is guilty of promoting prostitution in the first degree  when
 [he or she:
   1.  knowingly  advances  or profits from prostitution of a person less
 than thirteen years old; or
   2. being twenty-one years old or more, he or she] SUCH PERSON knowing-
 ly advances or profits from prostitution of a person less  than  fifteen
 years old.
   Promoting prostitution in the first degree is a class B felony.
   §  6.  The first undesignated paragraph of section 230.33 of the penal
 law, as amended by chapter 368 of the laws of 2015, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   A  person  is  guilty  of compelling prostitution when, being eighteen
 years old or more, [he or she] SUCH PERSON knowingly advances  prostitu-
 tion  by  compelling  a person less than eighteen years old TO ENGAGE IN
 PROSTITUTION, WHETHER by force [or], intimidation, [to engage in prosti-
 tution] DECEPTION, MANIPULATION, COERCION, ABUSE OF A POSITION OF  POWER
 OR AUTHORITY, OR ABUSE OF THE VULNERABILITY OR DEPENDENCY OF SUCH PERSON
 LESS THAN EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S8609A

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Actions

Votes

Jan 28, 2026 - Codes Committee Vote

Codes Committee Vote: Jan 28, 2026

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2025-S8609 - Details

2025-S8609 - Summary

2025-S8609 - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8609 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

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Sponsored By

Zellnor Myrie

Current Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Actions

Votes

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

Jessica Scarcella-Spanton

2025-S8609 - Details

2025-S8609 - Summary

2025-S8609 - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8609 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

Jessica Scarcella-Spanton

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8609A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments