Wolk strengthens penalties for impeding abuse reports

Equal punishment for failure to report domestic, child, elder and dependent adult abuse

Assembly Bill 1188, sponsored by Attorney General Bill Lockyer, would make failure to report, or impeding or inhibiting the report of these crimes punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to 6 months, or by a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If that failure to report or impeding or inhibiting a report results in death or great bodily injury the punishment would be imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

“The bill addresses inconsistencies in the way we protect our most vulnerable citizens, children, elderly and dependent adults, and victims of family violence,” said Assemblywoman Wolk. “It makes no sense to treat these victims differently and imply a greater or lesser value to one life over another -- that a case of elder abuse is any more or any less important than a case of child abuse or domestic violence.

“This bill sends the message that all of these cases should be treated with the same degree of seriousness, concluded Wolk. “In all of these cases the difference in making a report or not can be a life and death matter for the abused person.”

Law enforcement representatives including Janet Gaard, special assistant to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, testified for the bill.

AB 1188 passed Public Safety committee with a unanimous vote, and will next be heard in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. The bill’s supporters include Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the Klass Kids Foundation, California Protective Parents Association, and the California District Attorneys Association.