Kentucky Secretary of State to hold ceremonial signing for child grooming law

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams will hold a ceremonial signing Tuesday for House Bill 4, the law that criminalizes the sexual grooming of minors in the state for the first time. Gov. Andy Beshear signed the bill into law on April 10, making Kentucky one of a growing number of states with such legislation.

Rep. Marianne Proctor, R-Union, who sponsored the measure, said the bill closes a significant gap in Kentucky law. The legislation passed both chambers of the General Assembly with overwhelming support, including unanimous House passage in February.

The law defines grooming as actions directed at a minor that are intended to establish an emotional connection through manipulation or trust building, with the goal of facilitating sexual conduct.

Under the measure, grooming is classified as a Class A misdemeanor when the suspect is at least 18 years old and the victim is younger than 14. For those in trusted positions such as teachers or coaches, grooming a minor is a Class D felony unless the minor is younger than 12, in which case it is a Class C felony.

According to Proctor’s testimony before the committee, “one in 10 children are sexually abused” in Kentucky. The law includes exceptions for legitimate professional communications with minors by teachers, doctors and other professionals.

Child advocates say the law is long overdue, with Kentucky now joining a growing number of states with such legislation. The legislation passed with bipartisan support, marking a shift from reactive to proactive intervention.

The ceremonial signing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Kentucky Secretary of State Office, 1025 Capital Center Drive, Suite 201, in Frankfort.

Correction (May 12, 2026): An earlier version of this article and its headline stated that Secretary Adams would sign HB 4 into law. Gov. Andy Beshear signed HB 4 into law on April 10, 2026; Tuesday’s event at the Secretary of State’s office is a ceremonial signing. Thanks to Nick Storm at the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office for the flag. Logged at /corrections.

This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from a press release emailed to [email protected] by Kentucky House Majority Caucus, enriched with 3 web searches. Subsequently corrected by hand on May 12, 2026 — see /corrections.