Florida Senate Takes Aim At Child-Like Sex Dolls
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Selling or showing child-like sex dolls would be a crime in Florida, under a measure unanimously approved Wednesday by the state Senate.
The proposal (SB 160) by Sen. Lauren Book, a Plantation Democrat who was sexually abused by a nanny as a child, is focused on "obscene or lewd materials" and is designed to combat pedophilia.
In a committee meeting, Book described the anatomically correct dolls as "rampantly used by sexual deviants to act out pedophilic desires."
A House version of the bill (HB 1107) awaits an appearance before the Judiciary Committee, after receiving unanimous support in two subcommittees.
The proposal, in part, would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to sell, give away or show such dolls.
The charge would increase to a third-degree felony on subsequent violations.
A committee staff analysis said the importation to the U.S. of sex dolls that resemble children is becoming increasingly prevalent.
"Such dolls are manufactured in China, Hong Kong, or Japan and are shipped to the U.S. labeled as clothing mannequins or models in order to avoid detection," the analysis said.
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