A bill to close a loophole in California’s sex offender registration law is now headed to the governor’s desk. 

Senate Bill 680 (SB 680) ensures that adults who commit serious sexual offenses against minors can no longer avoid registration due to outdated legal technicalities. 

The bill, authored by Sen. Susan Rubio (D–Baldwin Park), passed through the Legislature with strong bipartisan support. 

“This bill is about one thing — protecting our girls,” said Rubio. “A predator like Jeffrey Epstein could have been sentenced to decades in prison. But when he got out, current California law might not have required him to register as a sex offender for some of his crimes. That’s appalling. If a grown man sexually abuses a young girl, we’re going to make sure he’s treated like every other sex offender. No loopholes. No excuses. SB 680 makes sure of that.”

Under current law, most sexual offenses involving minors carry mandatory sex offender registration as part of the sentence. But a loophole allows some predators to slip through the cracks. 

Currently, the charge of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” does not automatically trigger registration. That means when a grown man is more than 10 years older than a girl under 16, he could avoid registration entirely.

SB 680 closes that loophole by requiring registration in those cases, bringing the law in line with how California treats other serious sex offenses against minors.

Sen. Rubio introduced the bill in partnership with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, which identified real-world cases where adult men avoided sex offender registration even after abusing girls, simply because of how California law was written. 

Rubio’s office said SB 680 doesn’t create new crimes or increase penalties — it fixes a blind spot that lets some of the most serious offenses against minors be treated as less serious under the law.

“I commend the California Legislature for passing Senate Bill 680, as this critically important bill will close a loophole in our sex offender registration requirement,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “I am proud to have worked with Sen. Rubio to sponsor this bill. SB 680 eliminates the so-called Jeffrey Epstein exception for mandatory registration of offenders who are at least 10 years older than their victims.”

“It should not be controversial to say that adults who abuse children should be on the sex offender registry,” Rubio added. “SB 680 makes sure that’s true in every case. No one gets treated differently. If you hurt a young girl, the law will treat you like every other sex offender.”

SB 680 now heads to Gov. Newsom for his signature. If signed, it will finally bring California’s sex offender registry in line with the seriousness of the crimes it’s meant to address and ensure young girls are no longer left unprotected by a technicality, Rubio’s office said.