AB2274 - Crimes: plea deals.

Enrolled August 24, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 20, 2026 Passed IN Assembly May 18, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 15, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2274 Introduced by Assembly Member Bains February 19, 2026 An act to add Section 266l to the Penal Code, relating to crimes. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2274, Bains. Crimes: plea deals. Existing law prohibits human trafficking, defined as, among other things, violating the personal liberty of another person with the intent to engage in specified sex offenses. Existing law prohibits pimping, defined as deriving support from the earnings of another person’s prostitution, and pandering, defined as procuring another for purposes of prostitution or persuading someone to become a prostitute. This bill would, in any prosecution for a violation of those crimes in which the victim was a minor, prohibit any plea agreement, nonprosecution agreement, immunity agreement, anonymity, or other disposition from granting immunity to any person other than the defendant unless that person is specifically named in the written agreement, and the agreement is approved by the court after a hearing in which victims are given notice and an opportunity to be heard. By increasing duties on local prosecutors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Epstein Loophole Act. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) In 2008, Jeffrey Epstein, a serial child sex trafficker who victimized dozens of underage girls, was permitted to plead guilty in Florida to grossly inadequate state charges. He received an 18-month county jail sentence, of which he served less than 13 months, with extensive work release and private wing privileges. (b) That plea agreement also granted blanket immunity from federal prosecution to all unnamed “potential co-conspirators,” shielding multiple facilitators of his crimes for over a decade. (c) The Epstein plea deal is widely regarded as one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice in modern American history. It allowed a predator to continue offending and denied dozens of child victims their day in court. (d) California must ensure that no prosecutor can ever again offer, and no court can ever again approve, an “Epstein loophole” in cases involving the commercial sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of minors. (e) Existing California law already imposes severe penalties for these crimes, but prosecutors retain excessive discretion to down-charge, offer blanket immunity to uncharged accomplices, or agree to dispositions that result in little or no prison time. (f) Child victims of sexual trafficking and exploitation deserve the certainty that the full weight of the law will be brought against every adult who participates in their victimization. SEC. 3. Section 266l is added to the Penal Code, to read: 266l. In any prosecution for a violation of subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 236.1, or of Section 266h or 266i, in which the victim was a minor, no plea agreement, nonprosecution agreement, immunity agreement, or other disposition shall grant immunity, leniency, anonymity, or nonprosecution to any person other than the defendant unless that person is specifically named in the written agreement and the agreement is approved by the court after a hearing in which victims are given notice and an opportunity to be heard. SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.