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Committee approves bill raising mandatory minimums for offenders in positions of trust over children
Summary
The House Judiciary Committee voted to pass HB1865, a bill increasing mandatory minimum sentences for people who abuse positions of trust or authority over children, after a debate over removing judicial discretion.
Representative Dan Vaught described HB1865 as an effort to increase penalties for people who abuse positions of trust over children, saying the law aims to strengthen sentences for the most severe offenses.
The attorney general’s office told the committee it supports the bill, describing the term “position of trust or authority” as a phrase already used across the criminal code and supported by case law. Representative Vaught recounted local cases he said motivated the bill, including sexual assault and fatal child abuse, and said the measure was designed to make penalties “so stiff that somebody thinks before they take another child in their hand and beat them to death.”
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