Child sex dolls may soon be banned in Washington

A bipartisan effort to ban child sex dolls in Washington had its first hearing Monday in the Washington State Legislature.

Senate Bill 5227 defines a child sex doll as “an anatomically correct doll, mannequin, robot or other object intended to be used for sexual acts or sexual stimulation or gratification that resembles a minor or is specifically advertised as being a representation of a minor.”

During a hearing Monday before the Senate Law and Justice Committee, the bill’s sponsor Democratic Representative Tina Orwell ( Des Moines -D ) acknowledged the awkwardness of the topic.

The bill also has a Republican co-sponsor Senator Jeff Holy (Spokane – R).

“There are certain bills that are uncomfortable to introduce and talk about, and this is one for me,” Orwell said.

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The proposed crimes include trafficking, manufacturing, importing and possessing child sex dolls, each classified as a Class B felony. If convicted, a person could face jail time of 77 to 102 months and a $1,000 fine for each conviction.

The discussion during the hearing focused more on what could be considered an “unproportional” punishment for possessing such a toy or doll.

“This bill places activities with a doll at a more serious level than crimes that involve real children being harmed,” Emily Gause, who represents the Washington Defense Attorney Association, said. “It’s just not proportional punishment.”

Keri-Anne Jetzer, from the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, testified as “other”, not saying she was pro or con regarding the bill. The commission is charged to make sure criminal sentencing guidelines fit the severity of the crime.

“The commission is signed in as other as it has concerns about the seriousness level ranking of the new offenses,” Jetzer told Senate lawmakers. “The proposed new offenses are ranked as seriousness levels six and seven. Other sexual offenses ranked at seriousness levels six and seven are related to harmful behaviors against actual children”.

Each doll involved would constitute a separate offense, potentially leading to significant legal consequences for offenders.

Orwell sponsored the legislation on behalf of the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

“We are unfortunately seeing a growing number of circumstances where individuals, who are doing things regarding child sexual abuse are also in possession of child sex dolls,” Russell Brown, representing the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said.

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Washington is not alone in addressing the issue of child sex dolls. Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Utah and Hawaii have passed similar laws.

Orwell said the law is needed because allowing child sex dolls to exist implies the behavior is acceptable.

“Someone was a sex offender, that has access to these kind of things would, in any way, generalize that that was appropriate behavior,” Orwell said.

There is also an effort to enact similar legislation at the federal level. The Curbing Realistic Exploitative Electronic Pedophilic Robots (CREEPER) Act 2.0 aims to ban the sale of lifelike child sex dolls nationwide. The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives in 2023 but Congress has not yet been acted upon.

Matt Markovich often covers the state legislature and public politics for KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Matt’s stories here. Follow him on X, or email him here. 

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