NORTH DAKOTA
Bismark Tribune
Katie Fairbanks Forum News Service
JAMESTOWN — Two Jamestown legislators are sponsoring a bill that would create a task force on preventing sexual abuse of children and reporting recommendations for legislation.
Senate Bill 2342 was introduced by Sen. John Grabinger, D-Jamestown, and had a hearing in the Human Services Committee on Jan. 30. No vote or other action has been taken since. The other sponsor is Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown.
The task force would gather information concerning child sexual abuse throughout the state, receive testimony and reports from individuals, state and local agencies and organizations, and create goals for state policy that would prevent child sexual abuse during the 2017-2018 interim period. The task force would submit a final report with recommendations to the governor and legislative management, which is a group of legislators who determine interim studies and committee memberships.
Satrom said the idea for the bill came from the Rev. Shawn Bowman, senior pastor at Victory Lutheran Church in Jamestown, who called Satrom after seeing a news show about child abuse and said something should be done.
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