BATON ROUGE (LA)
WAFB
By WAFB Staff
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) –
Governor Bobby Jindal signed legislation Friday requires eyewitnesses of sexual abuse to report the abuse to authorities. This law will toughen penalties for those who don’t report the abuse.
The legislation – HB 577 by Representative Joseph Lopinto – is part of the Governor’s 2012 legislative package.
In a news release Friday, Governor Jindal said, “We have a moral duty to protect our children. This new law will ensure that suspected cases of abuse are reported to the proper authorities and will punish those who fail to report these monstrous acts.”
The new law penalizes any adult eyewitness to sexual abuse who fails to report to authorities. The failure to report would be a felony, with imprisonment up to five years and/or a fine of up to ten thousand dollars.
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