HB 168 Ohio House · 136th Legislature (2025-2026)

Regards motivation or purpose to commit criminal child enticement

Summary
To amend sections 2905.05 and 2950.01 of the Revised Code to require that a person act with a sexual motivation or an unlawful purpose to commit the offense of criminal child enticement.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Jun 2025
House Passage
Jun 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 12, 2025 Last action Jun 25, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced As Passed by the House · 7 edits · Jun 18, 2025
MODERATE
This bill amends Ohio's criminal child enticement law to require proof of sexual motivation or unlawful purpose for conviction. The changes add new exceptions for law enforcement and emergency situations, create a new affirmative defense for bona fide emergencies, and significantly expand the definition of sexually oriented offenses used for sex offender registration. The bill also reorganizes the statute's structure and adds numerous new definitions related to sex offender classification and registration requirements.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of criminal child enticement by adding specific exceptions for law enforcement, emergency services personnel, and education employees acting within their lawful duties. It also broadens the definition of offenses that trigger sex offender registration requirements to include more specific circumstances and prior offense histories.
REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that criminal child enticement now requires proof the actor acted with sexual motivation or unlawful purpose, making the intent element explicit in the statute.

Created new affirmative defense allowing defendants to claim they acted in response to a bona fide emergency or to preserve a child's health, safety, or welfare.

ELIGIBILITY

Added exceptions for law enforcement officers, medic, firefighters, and education employees acting within their lawful duties, protecting these professionals from prosecution when performing official duties.

DEFINITION

Significantly expanded the definition of 'sexually oriented offense' to include more specific circumstances, prior offense histories, and additional statutory violations that trigger sex offender registration.

Added numerous new definitions including 'Tier I/II/III sex offender/child-victim offender,' 'juvenile offender registrant,' 'public registry-qualified juvenile offender registrant,' and various other terms related to sex offender classification and registration.

ENFORCEMENT

Modified sentencing provisions to create different felony degrees based on whether the actor solicited without permission versus with unlawful purpose, and added provisions for repeat offenders.

MODIFIED

Reorganized the statute's structure by adding new sections and subsections, and consolidated definitions from multiple sections into section 2950.01.

Floor votes · House Jun 18, 2025

How they voted

960
Passed
Total votes 96
Jun 18, 2025
D Democratic32
32 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican64
64 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
6
Key actions
1
Committee
2
Amendments
1
Jun 25, 2025
Committee
Referred to committee
upper
Jun 24, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
upper
Jun 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Jun 18, 2025
Introduced
Reported - Amended
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Committee
Referred to committee
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
lower
2 primary · 7 co-sponsors

Sponsors