It should be illegal for a member of law enforcement to have sex with a person in their custody and completely at their mercy.

MADISON – The Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety held a public hearing Wednesday on Senate Bill 104, prohibiting law enforcement officers from having sexual contact with persons under their custody.

Author of the bill, Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) gave impassioned testimony about the case of Anna Chambers, an 18-year-old from Brooklyn who was raped inside of a police van while under the custody of two NYPD detectives. Although the officers were charged with rape, a “consensual sex” defense was offered and the officers were acquitted. At the time, New York had no law barring sexual contact between a subject in custody and the officers involved.

Taylor became familiar with the case in 2017 and quickly learned that Wisconsin also had no law that made sexual contact between law enforcement and persons under their custody illegal. Following the press conference, Senator Taylor issued the following statement:

“In an ideal world, we would not need to create a law that makes it illegal for a member of law enforcement to have sex with a person in their custody and completely at their mercy. Unfortunately, this is no ideal world and the inappropriate actions of a few demand this legislation.”