Gov. Andy Beshear has signed into law a bill outlawing child sex dolls in the commonwealth.
Edgewood Republican Rep. Stephanie Dietz sponsored House Bill 207. She filed it this year and last year as a tool for prosecuting child sex crimes at the urging of Kenton Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders. Beshear signed the bill on Thursday.
Criminalization of the dolls will allow law enforcement to use possession or sale of a child sex doll as probable cause to search for sexual material featuring minors, lawmakers say. A child sex doll is defined in HB 207 as a doll, mannequin or robot intended for “sexual stimulation or gratification that has the features or, or has features that resemble those of, a minor.”
“These dolls are manufactured, sold, and used purely for the intent of raising sexual arousal and feeding the desire to have sex with a child,” Dietz said in a press statement after Thursday’s bill signing. “It is time we recognize that in statute and provide another tool for prosecuting child sexual predators.”
Under the new law, possession, selling, or transporting a child sex doll will be a felony sex crime in Kentucky. Sharing or creating AI or computer-generated sexual material featuring minors will also be a felony sex crime under the new law. That component was not in Dietz’s 2023 bill. It was added to the legislation this year.
“We want to give law enforcement every possible tool to arrest and successfully prosecute sexual abuse cases in which the victim is a child. We know these cases are incredibly challenging to try and successfully get a conviction. With HB 207 we’ve identified a way to help law enforcement and prosecutors and I’m hopeful we can get it through this session,” Dietz said Thursday. “The individuals who sell these dolls are doing no more than contributing to the sexual assault of children.”
Public sex offender registry requirements will apply under the new law. Adults convicted of a sex crime in Kentucky are required to have their name added to a public sex offender registry searchable by employers, family, friends, neighbors and anyone else.
State law also limits where a sex offender can live. (For example, sex offenders in Kentucky cannot live near schools, child daycare centers or playgrounds).
The new law will take effect 90 days after the Kentucky General Assembly ends. As of midday on Thursday, the final day of the 2024 legislative session is scheduled for April 15.