(a) No person by any means and without privilege to do so, and with a sexual motivation, shall knowingly solicit, coax, entice, or lure any child under fourteen years of age to accompany the person in any manner, including entering into any vehicle or onto any vessel, whether or not the offender knows the age of the child, if both of the following apply:
(1) The actor does not have the express or implied permission of the parent, guardian, or other legal custodian of the child in undertaking the activity;
(2) The actor is not a law enforcement officer, medic, firefighter, or other person who regularly provides emergency services, and is not an employee or agent of, or a volunteer acting under the direction of, any board of education, or the actor is any such person, but at the time the actor undertakes the activity, the actor is not acting within the scope of the actor's lawful duties in that capacity.
(b) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under subsection (a) of this section that the actor undertook the activity in response to a bona .fide emergency situation or that the actor undertook the activity in a reasonable belief that it was necessary to preserve the health, safety, or welfare of the child.
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of criminal child enticement, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this Section, a substantially equivalent State law or Municipal Ordinance, Ohio R.C. 2907.02, 2907.03, or former Ohio R.C. 2907.12 or Ohio R.C. 2905.01 or 2907.05 when the victim of that prior offense was under seventeen years of age at the time of the offense, criminal child enticement is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) "Sexual motivation" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2971.01;
(2) "Vehicle" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 4501.01;
(3) "Vessel" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 1547.01.
(Ord. 24-2023. Passed 4-25-23.)