RIVERSIDE, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed off on legislation backed by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office that increases legal penalties for individuals who break into a residence and commit a sexual offense, prosecutors announced Monday.
Assembly Bill 1741, dubbed the "Safe at Home Act," amends California Penal Code section 243.4 to make unlawful sexual touching following an illegal residential entry a "wobbler"—an offense that prosecutors can charge as either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the details of the case.
Under prior state law, individuals who unlawfully entered a home and subjected a victim to non-consensual sexual contact were often limited to misdemeanor sexual battery charges unless specific aggravating circumstances were present.
"Our office has seen firsthand the consequences of the current legal limitations — we are proud to sponsor this legislation," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Ivy Fitzpatrick, legislative representative for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. "Victims deserve to know that the law recognizes the full severity of what happened to them. Someone who violates the safety of a person's home, then sexually violates that person's body should face consequences that reflect the seriousness of their crimes."
Introduced by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, D-Downey, the legislation aimed to close statutory gaps where home-invasion sexual assaults were treated under the law similarly to lower-level misdemeanor battery offenses occurring in public spaces.
Prosecutors thanked Pacheco for carrying the bill through the state Legislature and praised Newsom for signing the measure into California law, noting that the change provides district attorneys statewide with greater flexibility to seek felony convictions and prison sentences in egregious residential cases.
The bill was approved by the governor Sunday and chaptered the same day by the Secretary of State.
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