By Ronna Bolante
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
A bill to raise Hawai‘i’s age of consent cleared a major hurdle yesterday when it was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.
The panel approved a bill that would outlaw sex between minors who are less than 16 years old and adults who are at least five years older.
Adult violators would face a mandatory prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Current law prohibits sex with minors under 14. House Bill 236, which would raise that age, now advances to the full House for a floor vote.
Proponents of the bill feared the measure would stall in the House Judiciary. Last month, Chairman Eric Hamakawa, D-3rd (S. Hilo, Puna), wouldn’t say whether he would hear the bill, and Republicans tried to force the entire House to vote on the measure.
In an Advertiser survey conducted before the legislative session, Hamakawa said he would not support raising the age of consent to 16.
"These issues are really more complicated than just yes or no," Hamakawa said. "I think provisions will have to be addressed further, and we have sit down with (Honolulu Prosecutor Peter) Carlisle to take a look at them."
Supporters of the measure said it would prevent older men from preying on young teenagers, and contend that 14-year-olds are not mature enough to consent to sex.
Mike Gabbard, chairman of the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, said adults have been free to exploit youngsters and lure them into the commercial sex industry without fear of criminal prosecution.
But at a hearing Thursday, Carlisle criticized the bill’s penalties, comparing them with a drunken driver he had prosecuted whose car collided with another vehicle, killing three passengers. That defendant received a 20-year-sentence.
"Instead of narrowly limiting it to the elderly, sophisticated predator preying on naive children, what it does is it brings in ... a bunch of people who I am fairly confident we don’t want to give a 20-year jail term to," Carlisle said.
"A 20-year sentence is one of the most severe sentences known to the Hawai‘i penal code."
Although Hawai‘i has the lowest age of consent in the nation, Carlisle said the bill would not solve the problem of adults taking advantage of minors.
Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a similar bill that raises the age of consent by one year, to 15. Senate Bill 711 also includes a mandatory prison sentence of up to 20 years.
That bill is now awaiting a vote by the full Senate.
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