As former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky’s preliminary hearing on sex abuse charges begin, California lawmakers are rushing to introduce legislation aimed at preventing similar sex crime scandals here.
Critics have said Penn State school officials, did too little to respond to allegations that he was involved in child molestation for years on the college campus. His arrest on child
sex abuse ended the careers of Paterno and Penn State President Graham Spanier.
Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) is announcing a bill that would require all athletic organizations to provide their employees with training on how to identify and report child abuse.
Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) and state Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) announced separate bills that would require employees of universities, including athletic directors, coaches and graduate assistants, to report suspected cases of child abuse to police. Currently, those jobs are not on California’s list of mandated reporters. Federal lawmakers, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), have introduced similar sex crime legislation in Washington.
A Penn State assistant football coach who saw Sandusky raping a boy in the football team’s showers has been widely criticized for not reporting the incident directly to police. He did report it to the university. Vargas said his bill would toughen the penalties for those who fail to report sex abuse.
The state of California takes sex crimes very seriously and the courts will harshly punish those convicted. Fines, jail time or a record as a sex offender are all possible consequences of a conviction. You also may be required to
register as a sex offender.
At the Law Offices of Cron, Israels & Stark, we defend clients in Los Angeles and throughout the state of California against a wide variety of sex crimes charges. We understand the devastating impact being charged or convicted of these types of crimes can have on your personal and professional life. We will aggressively fight to protect your rights and work to minimize any charges brought against you.
We handle any type of state or federal sex crime charges, including child pornography, child molestation, sexual battery,
lewd conduct, among many others.
You can call our office anytime at 888-895-3607 to speak with one of our
Los Angeles sex crime lawyers. All of our consultations are free of charge.