{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=CBDF7A3B-EC49-4909-A182-0FE88AB6F4BD", "Flake Reintroduces Bill to Protect Minor Sexual Assault Victims", "2018-12-11", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Jeff Flake", "F000444", "www.flake.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, last night reintroduced legislation preventing the cross-examination of minor victims of sexual assault by a defendant acting as his own attorney. The bill was prompted by the trial of Arizona resident Chris Simcox, who wanted to cross-examine two young girls he was accused of molesting. Flake's bill, S. 3736, would require any cross-examination of a child victim to be conducted by a court-supervised attorney on behalf of the defendant:\r\nThis bill protects child victims of sexual assault from having to endure any further trauma from their assailants. I urge the Senate to take swift action and protect these victims.\r\nBackground:\r\n \r\nOn December 8, 2016, Sens. Flake and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced S. 3524, which was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.\r\nOn June 9, 2016, a Phoenix jury found Chris Simcox guilty on two counts of child molestation and one count of furnishing pornography to a minor. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his crimes.\r\n \r\nTo view a PDF of the bill, click here.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=CBDF7A3B-EC49-4909-A182-0FE88AB6F4BD"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2141019105911255, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}