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Categories Politics

Washington Democrats Sponsor Bill to Slash Penalties for Pedophiles Snared in Online Sting Operations

December 27, 2025

Child focused on a computer screen, with professional headshots of four women displayed alongside, highlighting diversity in leadership roles.

Child focused on a computer screen, with professional headshots of four women displayed alongside, highlighting diversity in leadership roles.

Four Democratic Washington State Senators are pushing legislation to reduce penalties for individuals busted during sting operations for attempting to sexually abuse children.

The bill, Senate Bill 5312, sponsored by Sens. Lisa Wellman, Noel Frame, T’wina Nobles, and Claire Wilson, aims to shorten sex offender registration and post-release supervision for first-time offenders involved in stings where law enforcement poses as fictitious minors.

The proposal comes on the heels of a November vote by the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, which recommended lighter sentences for such offenders.

The commission’s decision mirrors SB 5312, advocating for alternatives to incarceration for crimes with “no identifiable victim,” citing lower recidivism rates among those convicted in stings compared to offenders who target real children.

“Democrats want to protect child predators,” Libs of Tik Tok wrote in a post on X about the bill.

Under SB 5312, the duty to register as a sex offender would end after five years for qualifying offenders who spend that time in the community without new disqualifying offenses, down from the current 10 years for class C felonies.

Post-release supervision would be reduced from lifetime to three years.

The bill applies to attempts, solicitations, or conspiracies to commit offenses like rape of a child, child molestation, communication with a minor for immoral purposes, and others, but only if the offender has no prior history of predatory behavior toward minors.

Critics, including Republican commission members and victims’ rights advocates, argue that the changes could weaken deterrence and endanger the public.

Adding to the controversy, reports suggest Sen. Wellman collaborated with constituents whose son was convicted in a sting operation, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.

The Lynnwood Times reports:

Sen. Wellman’s sponsorship of SB 5312 drew scrutiny over an alleged conflict of interest after reports surfaced that she worked closely with Mercer Island constituents Bruce and Joanne Glant, whose adult son was convicted in a Net Nanny sting, to advance the legislation reducing sentencing guidelines.

To justify their decision for reduced sentencing, the Commission members referenced a 2022 report from the Washington Sex Offender Policy Board that found individuals convicted solely through undercover operations reoffend at rates approximately 80 percent lower than those who targeted real minors.

Washington Sex Offender Policy Board Chair Brad Meryhew, speaking during the commission’s discussion, described such sting cases as “cases which do not involve an identifiable victim,” adding that “most of those are attempted crimes or communication with a minor, for an immoral purpose, with a victim who the person believes to be a minor, when in fact they’re a detective.” He further stated that many individuals caught in these operations “have very little experience with the world,” and aren’t the worst of the worst offenders.

Democrat Rep. Lauren Davis also raised concerns, noting that many caught in stings include people in positions of power who have taken substantial steps toward abusing a child.

Davis said, “Many of those caught in these stings, of course, who hold positions of power, including positions, judges, teachers, et cetera, that have plenty of experience with the world, so to speak.”

“These are cases where a person has taken a substantial step to have sex with a child,” she added, according to the LT report.

The post Washington Democrats Sponsor Bill to Slash Penalties for Pedophiles Snared in Online Sting Operations appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.