Francesca Hong voted to protect pedophiles as assemblywoman

Francesca Hong was one of only six Wisconsin Democrats to vote against a law making grooming a felony.

Assembly bill 677 aimed to make “grooming a child for sexual activity” a felony in Wisconsin. The bill was introduced in 2025 after public school teacher Christian Enwright got away with mere disorderly conduct charges despite apparently conducting “a months-long grooming relationship with a 14-year-old student.”

'I will never vote for legislation that institutes hate speech, and that is recognized hate speech.'

“No person may engage in a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse or sexual contact or for the purpose of producing, distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” the bill read.

The Wisconsin Assembly passed the bill 93-6 in January. Hong and three of the other no votes form the Assembly’s Socialist Caucus, which unanimously rejected the new child protections. Democrat Gov. Tony Evers signed the bill into law in March.

Currently the front-runner in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor, Hong has offered no public explanation for her vote. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment as to why she opposed creating a felony for the patterned sexual grooming of children.

Four of the bill’s opponents have endorsed Hong’s gubernatorial bid.

“The term ‘groomer’ has been increasingly used as a slur to imply that LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly educators, are threats to children,” said an explainer circulated by fellow bill opponent state Rep. Angelina Cruz (D).

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“I will never vote for legislation that institutes hate speech, and that is recognized hate speech,” Cruz told the Racine County Eye in January. “This is not about protecting children. It’s about advancing a political agenda.”

Cruz is a public school teacher and former president of the Racine Education Uniserv Council labor organization.

Socialist Caucus member Rep. Christian Phelps (D) claimed the bill was not a “good-faith effort,” according to the Wisconsin Examiner. Phelps is also vice chair of the Assembly’s LGBTQ+ Caucus.

Even the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, which oversees public education and libraries, supported the bill.

At the time of Enwright’s conviction, no specific Wisconsin statute criminalized grooming. Prosecutors could charge him only with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, allowing Enwright to avoid the sex offender registry.

Enwright pled guilty and was sentenced to over a year in prison plus probation, according to Fox 6.

Assembly Bill 677 became 2025 Wisconsin Act 88 after Evers signed it into law. Prosecutors began charging suspects under the new statute just over a week after it took effect.

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