Grassroots effort begins to criminalize child grooming in Missouri

MISSOURI — A Missouri group is hoping to spark change across the state and make child grooming illegal.

“This is a hill I’m willing to die on, even if it takes me my whole life,” said Madison Royer.

Right now, only 13 states have some type of broad language in their laws about grooming children. Of those, 3 States have explicit laws against it — Missouri is not one of them.

“The goal is to make the sexual grooming of minors a crime,” Royer said.

Royer co-founded Missourians for Child Protection, a group trying to criminalize child grooming in Missouri.

“It’s important to protect our children,” Royer said. “And a big part of that is to hold predators accountable.”

The full article is available at ozarksfirst.com.

(Story by Carissa Codel, ozarksfirst.com)