W.Va. House Committee Favors Increasing Child Abuse Penalties
Trending
CHARLESTON - Lawmakers hope that increasing the jail time for serious child abuse convictions might curtail the number of child abuse cases in West Virginia.
The House Judiciary Committee recommended a committee substitute for House Bill 4302 – modifying the criminal penalties imposed on a parent, guardian or custodian for child abuse - and the bill now heads to the full House of Delegates.
The bill raises the jail time for a parent, guardian, custodian, or person in a position of trust who is convicted of abusing a child from a minimum of one year to not less than two years, with the maximum number of years in prison from five years to 10 years. Jail time for abuse of a child causing serious bodily injury would increase from a minimum of two years to a minimum of five years, with the maximum jail time increasing from 10 years to 15 years in the state's prison system.
The bill also raises the potential penalties for someone who commits repeat offenses of child abuse, in some cases carrying a prison term up to twice the term otherwise authorized and up to twice the fine. The bill would also increase the charge for second-offense abuse of a child creating the substantial risk of bodily injury from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Child abuse is primarily a felony under State Code except in certain circumstances, with fines ranging from as low as $100 and up to $5,000 depending on the severity of the charge.
According to an annual report released last week by the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network, child advocacy centers saw a 10% increase over the last five years in the number of children served, with 4,879 children served between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. There are 21 child advocacy centers in West Virginia serving 46 out of 55 counties.
Half of the children served were at child advocacy centers for allegations of child abuse. From those interviews, 566 child abuse cases were brought with 253 convictions for crimes against children.
"The number of children served by West Virginia CACs is growing each year," said Kate Flack, chief executive officer of the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network.
An amendment - offered by Dels. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, and J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha - added language for "person in a position of trust in relation to a child." State sexual abuse statutes include “person in a position of trust,” but state child abuse statutes do not.
"The absence of evidence could be the evidence of absence," Akers said. "If there is a distinction between the sexual abuse statutes where 'person in a position of trust' is included but then in the general child abuse statute that 'person in a position trust' is not included, the judge may be included to think the Legislature made that distinction on purpose."
Del. Bryan Ward, R-Hardy, sought clarification that parents and/or custodians who use corporal punishment would not be unfairly prosecuted and potentially face the new stiffer child abuse penalties. Counsel for the committee explained that the law allows for exceptions for "reasonable discipline."
"When I was spanked, there was a clear intent to inflict pain and it didn't rise to abuse," Ward said. "I'm worried about the ambiguity of that because it is so subjective."