House committee sends bill to let judges weigh prior child-abuse convictions in custody cases

BOISE — The House Judiciary and Rules Committee voted unanimously to send House Bill 463 to the House floor with a “do pass” recommendation after sponsors said the measure would allow judges to consider prior convictions for sexual abuse of any child when making custody decisions.

Representative Barbara Ehart, R., District 33, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee that current law can exclude consideration of convictions involving other children. “There are enough flaws in the law,” Ehart said, and the bill would close one of those gaps by clarifying that a prior conviction for sexual abuse of any child may be considered when addressing custody and access.

Representative Heather Scott, R., District 2, a co-sponsor, said the bill does not mandate termination of parental rights. “Now this is a may. This doesn't mean they automatically will not get [custody],” Scott said. “It will allow the judge to take that into consideration.”

A single witness, Christina Hardy of District 23, testified in favor and described a case in Idaho in which a man convicted under Idaho Code 18-15-06 received a three- to seven-year sentence, served three years and is registered as an offender. Hardy said the man later had unsupervised access to his children and that one son was later convicted of sexual abuse. She described the long-term harm to a separate victim of the son, saying the victim became suicidal and was “in and out of mental health hospitals for about 9 months.”

Committee members described the measure as a targeted fix tied to stories they had heard from victims and families. Representative Mathias said he had researched related incarceration statistics after a recent briefing from the Department of Corrections, noting a study he cited that said 64% of women in Idaho prisons report sexual abuse before age 14. Representative Shirts and others commended the sponsors for addressing what they characterized as a recurring problem in custody cases.

Representative Schurz moved to send the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the motion carried unanimously. Representative Ehart told the committee that a Senate path forward had not been firmly committed and that, if advanced, the bill likely would not be considered in the same Senate committee.

The bill’s language, as presented to the committee, clarifies that a conviction for sexual abuse of any child is a factor a judge may consider in custody or parental-access determinations; it does not itself create an automatic rule for terminating parental rights. The committee did not record a roll-call vote with member-by-member tallies in the transcript; members stated “aye” and the chair declared the motion carried.

Votes at a glance: House Bill 463 — Motion to send to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation; mover: Representative Schurz; outcome: approved (unanimous; counts not specified).

The committee chairman closed the meeting after the vote; sponsors said next steps would include floor consideration in the House and uncertain movement in the Senate.