MADISON, Wis. (WTVO) — A Wisconsin state senator is leading the push for the state to ban child sex dolls.
Sen. Jesse James (R-Altoona), former police chief of Altoona, addressed a Tuesday Senate committee over legislation, introduced Monday, that would imprison anyone who owns a sex doll that looks like a child.
“I have a hard time believing that someone who possesses this kind of doll would not also be acting out their desire in a way that involved a real child,” said James, according to WHBL. “In my conversations with child crimes investigators regarding this legislation, they confirm that these dolls have always been confiscated alongside child pornography, or in conjunction with a crime against a real child.”
“For $30,000, and it talks to you and everything else, I’m just thinking these people are really sick,” said Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Dist. 21), a former law enforcement officer, said.
According to The Center Square, only five states have laws against child sex dolls: Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Utah, and Hawaii.
Some groups say the dolls help protect children by providing those attracted to children another outlet. Others find the dolls abhorrent.
The Prostasia Foundation, which describes itself on its website as working to protect children from sexual assault with laws based on evidence rather than emotion, maintains that doll bans are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy and remove a harmless outlet for those attracted to minors, perhaps leading to sexual assaults against real children.
The National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine last year released findings from a survey of 85 child sex doll owners and 120 of what the survey termed “minor-attracted people” who don’t own dolls, The respondents were recruited through online forums for people sexually attracted to children.
The survey found that generally doll ownership was associated with lower levels of sexual preoccupation but more sexually objectifying behaviors and anticipation of sex with children.
It is illegal to have sex with anyone under the age of 18 in Wisconsin.
James’ proposed legislation would require a 3.5 year prison sentence for a first offense. A person convicted of child sexual abuse would face up to 6 years for for a first offense.
If an offender owns a sex doll that looks like a specific child would be looking at a 15-year sentence.
A Florida mother in 2020 discovered photos of a child sex doll being sold online that exactly resembled her 8-year-old daughter, according to the Child Rescue Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works to protect children from sexual exploitation.
“They’re to serve a purpose that may temporarily, in my opinion, satisfy the sexual urges,” James said. “However, I think that nothing ever replaces the real thing. (The dolls are) a temporary fix.”
Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), said there may be loopholes that need to be addressed.
“If someone can say that it’s a dwarf,” Taylor said. “Someone who is smaller, and not a child.”
James said there would likely be bountiful supporting evidence in a case.
“When we come across child pornography cases, these aren’t just 10 images and stuff like that. We’re talking thousands of images,” he said. “This isn’t something that’s going to be a tiny case.”
Legislation that would ban the dolls nationwide, dubbed The Creeper Act, has been languishing in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017.
England has banned the importation of such dolls, and Canadian law classifies the dolls as child pornography.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
