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SENATE FLOOR VERSION - SB551 SFLR Page 1
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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
March 4, 2025
AS AMENDED
SENATE BILL NO. 551 By: Woods
An Act relating to crimes and punishments; amending
21 O.S. 2021, Section 843.5, as amended by Section 2,
Chapter 151, O.S.L. 2024 (21 O.S. Supp. 2024, Section
843.5), which relates to child abuse; modifying
penalty of certain unlawful act; updating statutory
language; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2021, Section 843.5, as
amended by Section 2, Chapter 151, O.S.L. 2024 (21 O.S. Supp. 2024,
Section 843.5), is amended to read as follows:
Section 843.5. A. Any person who shall willfully or
maliciously engage in child abuse, as defined in this section,
shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not
exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than Five Hundred
Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00),
or both such fine and imprisonment.
B. Any person responsible for the health, safety, or welfare of
a child who shall willfully or maliciously engage in enabling child
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abuse, as defined in this section, shall, upon conviction, be
punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of
Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine of not less
than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment.
C. Any person responsible for the health, safety, or welfare of
a child who shall willfully or maliciously engage in child neglect,
as defined in this section, shall, upon conviction, be punished by
imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not
exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than Five Hundred
Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00),
or both such fine and imprisonment.
D. Any parent or other person who shall willfully or
maliciously engage in enabling child neglect shall, upon conviction,
be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of
Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine of not less
than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment.
E. Any person responsible for the health, safety, or welfare of
a child who shall willfully or maliciously engage in child sexual
abuse, as defined in this section, shall, upon conviction, be
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punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of
Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or and by a fine of not less
than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand
Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment, except as
provided in Section 51.1a of this title or as otherwise provided in
subsection F of this section for a child victim under twelve (12)
years of age. Except for persons sentenced to life or life without
parole, any person sentenced to imprisonment for two (2) years or
more for a violation of this subsection shall be required to serve a
term of post-imprisonment supervision pursuant to subparagraph f of
paragraph 1 of subsection A of Section 991a of Title 22 of the
Oklahoma Statutes under conditions determined by the Department of
Corrections. The jury shall be advised that the mandatory post-
imprisonment supervision shall be in addition to the actual
imprisonment.
F. Any person responsible for the health, safety, or welfare of
a child who shall willfully or maliciously engage in child sexual
abuse, as defined in this section, to a child under twelve (12)
years of age shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in
the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than
twenty-five (25) years nor more than life imprisonment, and by a
fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than
Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
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G. Any parent or other person who shall willfully or
maliciously engage in enabling child sexual abuse shall, upon
conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the
Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a
fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than
Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and
imprisonment.
H. Any person who shall willfully or maliciously engage in
child sexual exploitation, as defined in this section, shall, upon
conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the
Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a
fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than
Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and
imprisonment, except as provided in subsection I of this section for
a child victim under twelve (12) years of age. Except for persons
sentenced to life or life without parole, any person sentenced to
imprisonment for two (2) years or more for a violation of this
subsection shall be required to serve a term of post-imprisonment
supervision pursuant to subparagraph f of paragraph 1 of subsection
A of Section 991a of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes under
conditions determined by the Department of Corrections. The jury
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shall be advised that the mandatory post-imprisonment supervision
shall be in addition to the actual imprisonment.
I. Any person who shall willfully or maliciously engage in
child sexual exploitation, as defined in this section, of a child
under twelve (12) years of age shall, upon conviction, be punished
by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for
not less than twenty-five (25) years nor more than life
imprisonment, and by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars
($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
J. Any person responsible for the health, safety, or welfare of
a child who shall willfully or maliciously engage in enabling child
sexual exploitation, as defined in this section, shall, upon
conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the
Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a
fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than
Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and
imprisonment.
K. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person
convicted of forcible anal or oral sodomy, rape, rape by
instrumentation, or lewd molestation of a child under fourteen (14)
years of age subsequent to a previous conviction for any offense of
forcible anal or oral sodomy, rape, rape by instrumentation, or lewd
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molestation of a child under fourteen (14) years of age shall be
punished by death or by imprisonment for life without parole.
L. Provided, however, that nothing contained in this section
shall prohibit any parent or guardian from using reasonable and
ordinary force pursuant to Section 844 of this title.
M. Consent shall not be a defense for any violation provided
for in this section.
N. Notwithstanding the age requirements of other statutes
referenced within this section, this section shall apply to any
child under eighteen (18) years of age.
O. As used in this section:
1. “Child abuse” means:
a. the willful or malicious harm or threatened harm or
failure to protect from harm or threatened harm to the
health, safety, or welfare of a child under eighteen
(18) years of age by a person responsible for a
child’s health, safety, or welfare, or
b. the act of willfully or maliciously injuring,
torturing, or maiming a child under eighteen (18)
years of age by any person;
2. “Child neglect” means the willful or malicious neglect, as
defined by Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes, of
a child under eighteen (18) years of age by a person responsible for
a child’s health, safety, or welfare;
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3. “Child sexual abuse” means the willful or malicious sexual
abuse of a child under eighteen (18) years of age by a person
responsible for a child’s health, safety, or welfare and includes,
but is not limited to:
a. sexual intercourse,
b. penetration of the vagina or anus, however slight, by
an inanimate object or any part of the human body not
amounting to sexual intercourse,
c. sodomy,
d. incest, or
e. a lewd act or proposal, as defined in this section;
4. “Child sexual exploitation” means the willful or malicious
sexual exploitation of a child under eighteen (18) years of age by
another and includes, but is not limited to:
a. human trafficking, as provided for in Section 748 of
this title, if the offense involved child trafficking
for commercial sex,
b. trafficking in children, as provided for in Section
866 of this title, if the offense was committed for
the sexual gratification of any person,
c. procuring or causing the participation of a minor in
child pornography sexual abuse material, as provided
for in Section 1021.2 of this title,
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d. purchase, procurement, or possession of child
pornography sexual abuse material, as provided for in
Section 1024.2 of this title,
e. engaging in or soliciting prostitution, as provided
for in Section 1029 of this title, if the offense
involved child sex trafficking,
f. publication, distribution, or participation in the
preparation of obscene material, as provided for in
Section 1040.8 of this title, if the offense involved
child pornography sexual abuse material,
g. aggravated possession of child pornography sexual
abuse material, as provided for in Section 1040.12a of
this title,
h. sale or distribution of obscene material, as provided
for in Section 1040.13 of this title,
i. soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a
minor by use of technology, as provided for in Section
1040.13a of this title,
j. offering or transporting a child for purposes of child
sex trafficking, as provided for in Section 1087 of
this title, and
k. child sex trafficking, as provided for in Section 1088
of this title;
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5. “Enabling child abuse” means the causing, procuring, or
permitting of child abuse by a person responsible for a child’s
health, safety, or welfare;
6. “Enabling child neglect” means the causing, procuring, or
permitting of child neglect by a person responsible for a child’s
health, safety, or welfare;
7. “Enabling child sexual abuse” means the causing, procuring,
or permitting of child sexual abuse by a person responsible for a
child’s health, safety, or welfare;
8. “Enabling child sexual exploitation” means the causing,
procuring, or permitting of child sexual exploitation by a person
responsible for a child’s health, safety, or welfare;
9. “Incest” means marrying, committing adultery, or fornicating
with a child by a person responsible for the health, safety, or
welfare of a child;
10. “Lewd act or proposal” means:
a. making any oral, written, or electronic or computer-
generated lewd or indecent proposal to a child for the
child to have unlawful sexual relations or sexual
intercourse with any person,
b. looking upon, touching, mauling, or feeling the body
or private parts of a child in a lewd or lascivious
manner or for the purpose of sexual gratification,
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c. asking, inviting, enticing, or persuading any child to
go alone with any person to a secluded, remote, or
secret place for a lewd or lascivious purpose,
d. urinating or defecating upon a child or causing,
forcing, or requiring a child to defecate or urinate
upon the body or private parts of another person for
the purpose of sexual gratification,
e. ejaculating upon or in the presence of a child,
f. causing, exposing, forcing, or requiring a child to
look upon the body or private parts of another person
for the purpose of sexual gratification,
g. causing, forcing, or requiring any child to view any
obscene materials, child pornography sexual abuse
material or materials deemed harmful to minors as such
terms are defined in Sections 1024.1 and 1040.75 of
this title,
h. causing, exposing, forcing, or requiring a child to
look upon sexual acts performed in the presence of the
child for the purpose of sexual gratification, or
i. causing, forcing, or requiring a child to touch or
feel the body or private parts of the child or another
person for the purpose of sexual gratification;
11. “Permit” means to authorize or allow for the care of a
child by an individual when the person authorizing or allowing such
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care knows or reasonably should know that the child will be placed
at risk of the conduct or harm proscribed by this section;
12. “Person responsible for a child’s health, safety, or
welfare” for purposes of this section shall include, but not be
limited to:
a. the parent of the child,
b. the legal guardian of the child,
c. the custodian of the child,
d. the foster parent of the child,
e. a person eighteen (18) years of age or older with whom
the parent of the child cohabitates, who is at least
three (3) years older than the child,
f. any other person eighteen (18) years of age or older
residing in the home of the child, who is at least
three (3) years older than the child,
g. an owner, operator, agent, employee, or volunteer of a
public or private residential home, institution,
facility, or day treatment program, as defined in
Section 175.20 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
that the child attended,
h. an owner, operator, agent, employee, or volunteer of a
child care facility, as defined in Section 402 of
Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes, that the child
attended,
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i. an intimate partner of the parent of the child, as
defined in Section 60.1 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma
Statutes, or
j. a person who has voluntarily accepted responsibility
for the care or supervision of a child;
13. “Sexual intercourse” means the actual penetration, however
slight, of the vagina or anus by the penis; and
14. “Sodomy” means:
a. penetration, however slight, of the mouth of the child
by a penis,
b. penetration, however slight, of the vagina of a person
responsible for a child’s health, safety, or welfare,
by the mouth of a child,
c. penetration, however slight, of the mouth of the
person responsible for a child’s health, safety, or
welfare by the penis of the child, or
d. penetration, however slight, of the vagina of the
child by the mouth of the person responsible for a
child’s health, safety, or welfare.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
March 4, 2025 - DO PASS AS AMENDED