76-5-417 Enticing a Minor (2001)

The Utah Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force was established on January 19, 2000 as a program within the Attorney General's Office for the purpose of protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation by offenders who utilized the internet to victimize them. [1] In their first year, the ICAC task force opened up 153 cases and made 40 arrests.[2]  

In the following year, Rep. Duane Bourdeaux (D-Salt Lake) introduced H.B 181 Penalties for Soliciting Minors on February 1, 2001 during the 42nd legislative session. The offense of enticing a minor was created with statute 76-4-401 enacted to address the new and evolving threat of offenders using the internet to lure minors into sexual activity. 

The rise of electronic communication, such as online chat rooms and text messaging, allowed offenders to initiate contact with children in a way that was not previously addressed by state law. Key reasons for the legislation include:

Specifically targeting the use of computers, the internet, and text messaging to "solicit, seduce, lure, or entice" a minor for sexual activity. As technology changed how people communicated, the Utah Legislature recognized the need for a new law to cover crimes that were being committed digitally. The law provided a legal framework to prosecute individuals for inappropriate conversations and acts with minors conducted via electronic means.

Previously, a prosecution might only occur if the offender completed the sexual act with a minor. The 2001 law closed this gap by making the act of online enticement a crime in itself, even if the offender is detected before an in-person meeting. The legislation also clarified that it is not a defense to the crime if a law enforcement officer or undercover operative is involved in the investigation. This provision supports police efforts to detect and prosecute these crimes using online sting operations. 

Before the new law took effect, local prosecutors had to secure federal indictments, the state was only allowed to charge these men under federal law. The federal law had been useful in prosecuting these criminals but now state officials can investigate, arrest and prosecute locally. "The state law is timely and more appropriate to have in the books. Crime is on the rise and to have both a local and federal law is a plus," Rep. Bourdeaux said. "Now we have a state law that says it's wrong to try to solicit sex with a minor over the Internet," Murphy said.[3]

With passage of H.B. 181 and , H.B. 237, Sex Offender Registry, felony convictions of enticing a minor, 76-5-420 Lewdness Involving A Minor, and 76-7-102 Incest  became a registrable offense subject to a lifetime registration. In 2021, Senator Jacob Anderegg (District 22) introduced S.B. 215 to amend the process for offenders on the lifetime registry to petition for removal after 20 years. 

Legislative Path

01/23/01 Numbered
01/23/01 Bill Distributed   
01/24/01 House received from General Counsel
01/24/01 House read 1st time (Introduced)
01/30/01 House sent to standing committee
02/01/01 House Comm - Substitute Recommendation  
02/02/01 Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee recommends H.B. 181, read the second time with Substitution.

02/13/01 read the third time, Sub. H.B. 181, as amended, then passed on the following roll call: Yeas, 70; Nays, 0; Absent or not voting, 5.

02/27/01 Senate passed, 1st Sub. H.B. 181, signed by the President and the Speaker.

Governor Signed on 3/20/2001 

Effective Date: 4/30/2001

In 2003, Rep. Duane Bourdeaux (D-Salt Lake) introduced H.B 334 which amended the offense of enticing a minor over the Internet to provide that an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit this offense may be prosecuted under this provision. 

Penalties for soliciting minors, This act creates the offense and penalty regarding enticing a minor over the Internet for sexual activity. Amends 77-27-21.5; Enacts 76-4-401 Effective April 30, 2001 2001 Utah Laws 353. 

Research Articles

Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., & Mitchell, K. (2011). Child Pornography Possessors: Trends in Offender and Case Characteristics. Sexual Abuse, 23(1), 22-42.

Anthony M. Dillof, Possession, Child Pornography, and Proportionality: Criminal Liability for Aggregate Harm Offenses, 44 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 1331 (2018) .

Olivia Cullen , Keri Zug Ernst , Natalie Dawes , W. Warren Hill Binford , Gina Dimitropoulos. 'Our Laws Have Not Caught up with the Technology': Understanding Challenges and Facilitators in Investigating and Prosecuting Child Sexual Abuse Materials in the United States.  (November 26, 2020).

Carissa Byrne Hessick, Disentangling Child Pornography from Child Sex Abuse , 88 WASH. U. L. REV. 853 (2011).

Adams, Alison (2009) "Seen but Not Heard: Child Sexual Abuse, Incest, and the Law in the United States," Utah Law Review: Vol. 2009: No. 2, Article 30.

Cassidy Eckrote, Enticing the Supreme Court to Hold That Physical Contact is Not Required to Violate the Child Enticement Statute, 127 DICK. L. REV. 791 (2023).