MADISON – The Wisconsin Assembly convened today to consider a variety of bills, including one that will define and criminalize grooming a child for sexual activity. Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek) joined her Assembly colleagues in supporting the proposal.
2025 Assembly Bill 677 (AB 677) – authored by Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) and Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) – defines grooming as a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity or for the purpose of producing, distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
“Without this bill, prosecutors have lacked the tools they need to appropriately charge groomers and pursue stronger penalties against individuals who participate in this kind of predatory behavior. In fact, under current law, if the sexual grooming occurred prior to enactment of 2023 Act 200 or was not school-based, the harshest charge that could be imposed was disorderly conduct, which is generally classified as a misdemeanor in Wisconsin,” explained Rep. Rodriguez.
Under the bill, grooming a child is a Class G felony, however there are conditions that can elevate it to a Class F, E, or D felony. Additionally, convicted groomers are required to register as a sex offender with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC).
“Grooming often involves emotional manipulation and abuse of trust between a child and the adult involved,” continued Rodriguez. “It leaves child victims with a lifetime of trauma.”
AB 677 has earned broad support from a bipartisan collection of stakeholders, including the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Wisconsin District Attorneys’ Association, the Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin, and Moms for Liberty.
“I commend Rep. Nedweski and Sen. James for their work on this serious issue. AB 677 will help prosecutors bring justice to the child victims of sexual grooming and their families,” concluded Rep. Rodriguez.
