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FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 28, 2026) — The Kentucky House of Representatives is considering a bill that would make grooming a minor a crime in Kentucky.
The House Judiciary Committee considered House Bill 4 on Wednesday. Rep. Marianne Proctor, R-Union, is the primary sponsor of the legislation. Boone and Gallatin Counties Commonwealth’s Attorney Louis Kelly and Lt. Anthony Theetge with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office testified alongside her.
HB 4 would criminalize grooming, which is when an adult engages in, entices, coerces, or solicits a minor to prepare them for sexual conduct, Proctor said.
The legislation defines grooming behavior as a course of conduct with a minor that is intended to establish an emotional connection with a minor through manipulation, trust-building, and influence to facilitate acts of sexual conduct or normalize or desensitize sexual acts.
Proctor said sexual abuse is on the rise, and 1 in 10 children will be the victim of sexual abuse.
“This is a gap in the law that we are hoping to close from the predatory behavior to the actual, physical sexual abuse,” she said.
According to the bill, the grooming of a minor under 14 years old would be a class A misdemeanor, unless the minor is under 12 years old, then the penalty would be a class D felony.
If the adult is in a position of authority over the minor, the penalty for grooming a minor would be upgraded to a class D felony, unless the victim is under 12 years old, then the penalty would be a class C felony, the bill reads.
Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, said she supports the intent behind the bill, but has a few technical concerns with the language.
“Is there a carve out for communications for job-related duties for let’s say a youth minister or a nonprofit that is dealing with youth and their concerns in terms of navigating sexual health and things like that?” she asked.
Kelly said the legislation includes a provision to exempt good faith, non-predatory discussions by requiring prosecutors to prove specific intent requirements.
“We think, between the statutory language and all those things, that should filter out those good faith discussions that we are not intending to include and only focus on ones that are clearly with malintent,” Kelly said.
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, said she also wanted to ensure that teachers wouldn’t be prosecuted for teaching sexual health curriculum.
House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, read aloud the portion of the statute he believes makes it clear that teachers teaching approved sexual health curriculum would not be charged with grooming a minor.
“This statute is nowhere near that conduct,” he added.
HB 4 will now go before the full House for consideration after receiving a 14-0 vote from the House Judiciary Committee. Five members chose to record a “pass” vote.
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