Committee backs coercion and sextortion updates after testimony about rising online threats to teens

The committee voted to favorably recommend the second substitute of HB 221, a measure that expands the criminal code to address modern online coercion tactics including sextortion and repeated encouragement of suicide. Representative Wilcox said task-force data show a substantial rise in sextortion tips and tragic loss of life tied to online coercion networks.

The bill creates a new second-degree felony for intentionally encouraging suicide when done on multiple occasions as part of a pattern that causes death or attempt, raises statutory fines for extortion involving intimate images, criminalizes refusing to delete intimate images used to coerce victims, and contemplates registry consequences for offenders; the committee heard supporting testimony from victim services and prosecutors.

Witnesses, including the Victim Services Commission and the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, emphasized escalating harms and law-enforcement trends; committee members discussed the elements required for speech-based criminalization and why drafters chose an aggravated/ pattern-based threshold (e.g., multiple incidents) to reduce First Amendment risk. The committee favorably recommended the bill unanimously.