YourVoice.Now Summary
Criminal Justice & Due ProcessMakes pushing a child toward suicide or harm a federal crime — up to life — plus 10 years for sextortion threats.
Criminal Justice & Due Process
The bill tells the U.S. Sentencing Commission to count child abuse the person was never convicted of. Conduct a jury cleared them of would not count.
The new crime covers more than direct threats. Lies, bullying, shaming, and wearing a child down all count if used to make them hurt themselves or others.
The new crime joins a list that lets federal prosecutors move a youth case to adult court. A teen who coerces another child could face adult charges.
More about this bill
Pushing a child into suicide or violence would become its own federal crime. The crime covers threats, blackmail, harassment, humiliation, and manipulation. It covers acts carried out online, by phone, or by mail. A conviction could bring life in prison. Coercing a child to hurt a pet, a service animal, or set a fire would carry up to 30 years. Threatening to share sexual images of a child would also become a crime. That holds even when no such image exists. When such images are used to scare or extort someone, the top sentence for several existing crimes would rise by 10 years. The bill also orders the U.S. Sentencing Commission to rewrite its sentence ranges for these crimes. That panel sets the ranges federal judges use. The new ranges must weigh live-streamed abuse, hidden identities, and how many children were harmed. The panel may not lower the starting level for these crimes. Most families would see no change in daily life. What changes is what happens if a child is targeted.
Congressional Summary
James T. Woods Act This bill expands the federal framework for combating the online exploitation of children. Among its provisions, the bill establishes new criminal offenses, expands reporting requirements, and facilitates the prosecution and sentencing of offenders. TITLE I—SAFE ACT Sentencing Accountability For Exploitation Act or the SAFE Act This title directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to federal criminal offenses involving the production, receipt, transport, shipment, or distribution of child sexual abuse material to (1) account for the actual and potential harm from the offense and changes since the last amendments with respect to the typical offense behavior and modern technologies, and (2) better reflect the spectrum of offender culpability. TITLE II—ENDING COERCION OF CHILDREN AND HARM ONLINE Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online Act or the ECCHO Act This title establishes a federal framework to combat the online coercion of minors to commit harm. The title creates new criminal offenses, expands reporting of instances involving the online coercion of minors, facilitates the prosecution of offenders, and expands protections for minors who testify in court. TITLE III—STOP SEXTORTION Stop Sextortion Act This title criminalizes threats to distribute child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. This practice is commonly referred to as sextortion. The title also increases criminal penalties for related offenses that involve the use of child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Passed House
- Action Date
- 2026-01-12
- Date Added
- 2026-04-03
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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