AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39 and Title 40, relative to the "Tennessee Anti-Grooming Act".

Child grooming brings penalties and registration

Beginning July 1, 2026, Tennessee makes grooming a minor a crime and requires sex-offender registration for convictions. The law applies to acts committed on or after that date. Grooming requires at least two acts aimed at the same minor that show a shared purpose. The person must specifically intend to commit or help a sexual or violent sexual offense against the minor. It also covers intent to induce actual sexual activity or clearly offensive simulated sexual activity. Covered acts include deceptive efforts to get time alone, demands for secrecy, gifts that build dependence, improper touching, and age-inappropriate sexual content. The general offense covers adults 18 or older targeting children under 13. For minors ages 13–17, the person must be at least 10 years older. A separate rule covers people in authority or special trust who are at least four years older than a minor under 18. General grooming is a Class A misdemeanor, rising to a Class D felony when improper-touching or sexual-content acts are included. Grooming by someone in authority or special trust starts as a Class D felony, rising to Class C for those acts. Both forms are Class C felonies when the child is under 13, or Class B when those acts are also included. Lawful sex education, licensed medical care, investigative work, age-appropriate family discussions, and customary professional or caregiving contact are excluded when not part of grooming. A close personal, mentoring, educational, or religious relationship alone does not prove grooming or intent. A minor's consent, lack of sexual contact, or misrepresentation of age is not a defense. Existing sexual-offense laws remain in place. The same course of conduct cannot support convictions under both this law and Tennessee's sections 39-13-528 or 39-13-529; prosecution proceeds under the higher-grade offense.