Bill Commons

DE SB 142

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 AND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SEXUAL EXTORTION.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · upper

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Quick answers

Did DE SB 142 pass?

Yes. DE SB 142 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2025-09-19): Signed by Governor

What is DE SB 142 about?

This Act is a Substitute for SB 142 and differs from SB 142 in the following ways: 1. Specifies that schools must provide age-appropriate training to students about the dangers and warning signs of sexual extortion, including online safety. 2. Delays implementation of employee training and student instruction to August 1, 2027. 3. Makes additional technical corrections to § 4163 of Title 14. In 2022, the FBI reported that law enforcement received over 7,000 reports related to the financial sexual extortion of minors, resulting in 3,000 victims and more than a dozen suicides. In 2023, South Carolina adopted “Gavin’s Law” in honor of Gavin Guffey, the son of Representative Brandon Guffey. Gavin was victim of sexual extortion, which led him to tragically take his own life at only 17 years old. Gavin’s Law created the crime of sexual extortion in South Carolina. In Delaware, sexual extortion is a crime under § 774 of Title 11. It is classified as a Class E felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. This Act increases the penalty for sexual extortion to a Class B felony, which is punishable by a minimum of 2 years in prison up to a maximum of 25 years in prison, under the following circumstances: 1. The defendant is an adult and the victim is a child, as defined in § 1100 of Title 11, or a vulnerable adult, as defined in §1105 of Title 11. 2. The defendant’s sexual extortion of the victim causes the victim to suffer serious physical injury or death. Gavin’s Law also requires school districts to educate students, and their parents or guardians, about the crime of sexual extortion. South Carolina’s Department of Education recommended including the required education in the Erin’s Law curriculum. Delaware has adopted its own version of Erin’s Law, under § 4163 of Title 14, that requires school districts and charter schools to provide appropriate training to employees and students, and to provide information to parents, about personal body safety, child safety, and how to detect and report child abuse. This Act specifies that information about the crime of sexual extortion must be included in the educational programming required by Erin’s Law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including restructuring § 774 of Title 11.

Who sponsors DE SB 142?

Daniel B. Short, Edward S. Osienski, Laura V. Sturgeon and 11 others are the primary sponsors of DE SB 142.

Description

This Act is a Substitute for SB 142 and differs from SB 142 in the following ways: 1. Specifies that schools must provide age-appropriate training to students about the dangers and warning signs of sexual extortion, including online safety. 2. Delays implementation of employee training and student instruction to August 1, 2027. 3. Makes additional technical corrections to § 4163 of Title 14. In 2022, the FBI reported that law enforcement received over 7,000 reports related to the financial sexual extortion of minors, resulting in 3,000 victims and more than a dozen suicides. In 2023, South Carolina adopted “Gavin’s Law” in honor of Gavin Guffey, the son of Representative Brandon Guffey. Gavin was victim of sexual extortion, which led him to tragically take his own life at only 17 years old. Gavin’s Law created the crime of sexual extortion in South Carolina. In Delaware, sexual extortion is a crime under § 774 of Title 11. It is classified as a Class E felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. This Act increases the penalty for sexual extortion to a Class B felony, which is punishable by a minimum of 2 years in prison up to a maximum of 25 years in prison, under the following circumstances: 1. The defendant is an adult and the victim is a child, as defined in § 1100 of Title 11, or a vulnerable adult, as defined in §1105 of Title 11. 2. The defendant’s sexual extortion of the victim causes the victim to suffer serious physical injury or death. Gavin’s Law also requires school districts to educate students, and their parents or guardians, about the crime of sexual extortion. South Carolina’s Department of Education recommended including the required education in the Erin’s Law curriculum. Delaware has adopted its own version of Erin’s Law, under § 4163 of Title 14, that requires school districts and charter schools to provide appropriate training to employees and students, and to provide information to parents, about personal body safety, child safety, and how to detect and report child abuse. This Act specifies that information about the crime of sexual extortion must be included in the educational programming required by Erin’s Law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including restructuring § 774 of Title 11.

Introduced
2025-06-05
Latest action
2025-09-19 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Daniel B. Shortprimary
  • Edward S. Osienskiprimary
  • Laura V. Sturgeonprimary
  • William Bushprimary
  • David L. Wilsonprimary
  • Bryant L. Richardsonprimary
  • Nicole Pooreprimary
  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
  • Dave G. Lawsonprimary
  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Stell Parker Selbyprimary
  • Melanie Ross Levinprimary
  • Franklin D. Cookeprimary
  • Brian Pettyjohnprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2025-09-19

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2025-06-30

    Passed By House. Votes: 38 YES 2 ABSENT 1 VACANT

    passage

  3. 2025-06-18

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 9 On Its Merits

    committee-passage

  4. 2025-06-12

    Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2025-06-12

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT

    passage

  6. 2025-06-12

    Amendment SA 1 to SS 1 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 18 YES 3 ABSENT

    amendment-passage

  7. 2025-06-11

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  8. 2025-06-10

    Amendment SA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

    amendment-introduction

  9. 2025-06-05

    Adopted in lieu of the original bill SB 142, and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2025-06-12 · pass · 19-0

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: yes
    • Eric Buckson: yes
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: yes
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: other
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: yes
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: yes
    • Bryant L. Richardson: yes
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: other
    • David L. Wilson: yes

  • SM

    2025-06-30 · pass · 38-0

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: yes
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
    • Richard G. Collins: yes
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: yes
    • Timothy D. Dukes: other
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: yes
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: yes
    • Jeff Hilovsky: yes
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: other
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: yes
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: yes
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: yes
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=142427

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T03:53:51.443619Z

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