Bill Would Strengthen Sentences For Child Abuse Homicides
Twenty years in jail is not enough time for parents who kill their children by abuse or neglect, one South Carolina lawmaker says.
State Rep. Joey Millwood (R-Spartanburg) and over 40 legislative co-sponsors will file a bill tomorrow giving judges two options in sentencing parents found guilty of killing their children – life in prison (without the possibility of parole) or the death penalty.
“Other than temporary insanity or postpartum depression, I have a hard time believing that a person who kills their child should receive anything less than life in prison,” Millwood told FITS.
Current legislation permits judges to impose lighter sentences of 20 years.
Millwood – father to a fourteen-month-old child – said he’s been studying South Carolina’s rankings on child well-being for some time now, but his efforts gained additional urgency after a tragic child starvation case in Sumter County earlier this month.
In that case, twin seventeen-month-old babies were found starving to death in a roach- and rat-infested home. One of the children died, while the other was hospitalized.
The story made statewide headlines and drew attention to South Carolina’s poor record on child-related issues.
“In South Carolina, I like to think we’d protect our children better,” Millwood said.
Comments
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on March 25th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
That’s more appropriate than what Judge Goode would give them.
By Minnie on March 25th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
IT’S ABOUT TIME! Could the bill attach punitive/long term coverage for the abused? Check out the work done by some fine, internationally-significant angels for abuse victims based at MUSC in Charleston, SC. (See Lynda Carter’s movie from the 1980s for more information.)
By Todd Seyler on March 25th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I think this bill is a wonderful idea. If the same crime was performed on an adult, the law classifies it as murder or manslaughter. Those crimes carry heavier sentences. These crimes need to carry the maximum sentences. If the law won’t protect these innocent victims, then who will?
Todd Seyler
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/ChildAbuseandItsLifetimeofDemons.html
By RedBank Bar on March 26th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Todd’s obviously not a scholar. Involuntary manslaughter is a crime in this state with a proportionately lesser sentence.
“Just Saying” also seems to be a ‘mo. Howsabout point us to a Judge Goode decision in a child abuse homicide case you disagree with? I’ll wait up.
By lou on March 27th, 2009 at 7:28 am
ALL abused people should be protected to the maximum extent of the law.
By Extra Point on March 27th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Judge Goode paid the price. Let’s drop it. (It was the pea-brain assistant solicitors fault anyway)