ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a slew of bills Wednesday morning, aimed at protecting children in Florida.
The governor was joined by several people for the bill signings at a restaurant in St. Pete.
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“I think that this is going to offer good protection for the children of our state, and people should just know that we are forthrightly committed, whatever we need to do, to maintain Florida as the best place to raise kids. We’re going to do it. And we’re going to make sure that we keep the bad guys at bay,” he said.
DeSantis signed the following bills:
- HB 1545: “Child Exploitation Offenses; Creating the offense of harmful communication to a minor; ranking the offense on the offense severity ranking chart of the Criminal Punishment Code; etc.”
- HB 1131: “Online Sting Operations Grant Program; Creates Online Sting Operations Grant Program within FDLE to support local law enforcement agencies in creating sting operations to protect children; requires FDLE to annually award grant funds; provides funding requirements.”
- HB 1235: “Sexual Predators and Sexual Offenders; Revises reporting requirements; specifies criteria applicable for removal of status for certain persons; revises registration requirements; revises provisions relating to verification; revises penalties.”
- SB 1224: “Protection of Children and Victims of Crime; Requiring the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office and circuit guardian ad litem offices to participate in the development of a certain state plan; requiring the court to appoint a guardian ad litem for a child at the earliest possible time; requiring parents to consent to provide certain information to the guardian ad litem and attorney ad litem; requiring a court to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent a child in certain proceedings, etc.”
- HB 305: “Offenses Involving Children; Increases maximum age of child victim of specified acts whose out of court statements may be admissible in certain circumstances; provides that first offense of specified sex trafficking offenses involving minors requires designation of defendant as sexual predator.”
One of the bills, SB 1224, was “inspired by Gabby Petito,” who was killed by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in 2021. Her parents have said officers in a domestic violence stop involving the two ignored their daughter’s injuries and should have taken action. DeSantis said part of the bill would create an assessment for law enforcement officers who respond to a domestic violence incident to “determine whether domestic violence victim is at a higher risk of death or serious injury.”
“Gabby’s father Joe has been supporting and pushing for the language in the legislation, as well as other members of the family and the foundation. Today, we honor those efforts by making this the law of the land in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
Last year, the governor signed legislation allowing the death penalty for people who commit sexual batteries on children under 12.
“We also know that there’s always more to do. At the end of the day, we want kids to just be kids. And when you have adults that are looking to harm them, we’ve got to step in and we’ve got to protect them,” DeSantis said.
Most recently, DeSantis held a bill signing at a Walgreens in Stuart that increases the penalties in cases of retail theft and porch piracy.
Watch the full news conference below:
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