HB1422

HB1422 creates a continuous sexual abuse offense for someone 17 or older who commits two or more qualifying acts against two or more victims over a period lasting at least 30 days. Unlike the separate existing offense involving young children or disabled individuals, this new offense is not confined to those victim groups. Qualifying acts include specified sexual assaults, sexually motivated aggravated kidnapping/burglary, certain child-sex offenses, sex trafficking and compelling prostitution—not every act someone might describe as abuse. Final law, especially section 18 · Penal Code 21

The new offense is a first-degree felony, ordinarily 5–99 years or life, with a possible fine up to $10,000. HB1422 bars parole for someone serving that sentence, adds mandatory-supervision restrictions, and bars judge-ordered ordinary community supervision and deferred adjudication. It does not rewrite the separate jury-recommended-supervision rules. It also adds sex-offender registration consequences and links the new offense to specified repeat-offender enhancements, solicitation of a minor, child grooming and sexual coercion. For example, a qualifying prior conviction can increase punishment for a later state-jail felony or specified sex offense; it does not automatically make every subsequent crime punishable by life. General penalty ranges · Community-supervision rules · Solicitation and grooming

Important limits accompany the new offense:

• A jury must unanimously find the required repeated abuse of multiple victims, but need not agree on the particular acts or exact dates.
• The law limits multiple counts when the alleged acts involve only two victims and limits convictions for the underlying acts in the same criminal action, with listed exceptions for alternative charges, acts outside the charged period and lesser-included offenses.
• When all victims are under 17, an affirmative defense requires an actor no more than five years older than the youngest victim, no duress, force or threat, and the statute’s registration/prior-offense condition. That last condition is worded as either no lifetime-registration requirement or no reportable conviction/adjudication for the listed abuse offenses. This is not a blanket permission for conduct involving minors; other offenses and their own defenses still matter.

Other penalty changes: The 25-year minimum for aggravated sexual assault based solely on the victim’s young age expands from under six to under ten. The separate under-14 rule involving specified aggravating circumstances remains. Sexual-assault and aggravated-sexual-assault sentences arising from the same criminal episode may run consecutively regardless of victim age; consecutive sentences are permitted, not required.

Voyeurism penalties increase. The baseline rises from Class C to Class A misdemeanor—up to one year in jail, a $4,000 fine, or both. A prior voyeurism conviction, a victim under 18, or an offense on postsecondary-school premises makes it a state-jail felony, ordinarily 180 days–two years and a possible $10,000 fine. A new under-18-victim offense following a qualifying prior under-18-victim conviction is a third-degree felony, ordinarily 2–10 years and a possible $10,000 fine. The offense still requires its underlying sexual-purpose, nonconsensual observation and privacy elements; ordinary looking is not enough. Voyeurism is removed from the separate campus-enhancement scheme because its own new provisions cover the campus circumstance.

DNA testing without a police report: A sexual-assault survivor or other legally authorized person may give written, limited consent for DPS to test biological evidence in a collection kit. Under that limited consent alone, results are not compared with DNA databases or used in a criminal investigation or trial. DPS must deliver results through the tracking system and cannot disclose or use them for another purpose without additional written consent. DPS must also explain how reporting the offense permits comparison and investigative use. This is testing—not automatic identification of an assailant. Existing rules identify who may consent and how consent may be withdrawn. Government Code 420.0735–.0736

The act took effect September 1, 2025. Its offense changes apply prospectively: an offense with any element occurring earlier remains under prior law. The evidence provisions separately apply only to evidence collected on or after December 1, 2025; DPS’s consent-form deadline was that same date. These are statutory dates, not a claim that every operational step was completed on time.