Bill Landen, one of several, is in support of a bill that will provide stricter penalties for the cruel confinement of children. The bill comes after a recent Laramie case where a couple kept their child in a cage.
A bill increasing punishments for child abusers passed both houses of the Wyoming Legislature and is awaiting Gov. Matt Mead’s signature or veto.
State lawmakers saw the need for stricter penalties after a recent case involving a Wyoming couple that forced their 7-year-old child to live in a cage and another case involving the cruel confinement of a Casper child.
“These, and no doubt other, instances seem to point to the need to address this heinous crime,” Rep. Michael Madden, R-HD40, said. “Although simply passing a bill will not make it any easier on kids because these atrocities will likely continue, at least the punishment for such offenses is more appropriate with this bill than without it.”
House Enrolled Act 94, if adopted, increases the maximum possible prison time for a convicted child abuser to 10 years.
Under current law Jena Harman and her boyfriend Alexander Smith—who pleaded guilty to child abuse in the case of the child forced to live in a cage—will face a maximum of five years when they are sentenced in April. They also both pleaded guilty to felonious restraint, which could get them each an additional five years.
If the bill becomes law, defendants in a case like this could get 10 years for the child abuse alone.
The bill also expands the legal definition of child abuse to include “mental or emotional injury” inflicted upon a child through “torture or cruel confinement,” which lawmakers believe will help law enforcement investigate instances of child abuse and make arrests.
“It certainly gives law enforcement the additional tools they need to deal with those who would perpetrate such acts,” Sen. Bill Landen, R-Natrona said. “Anything that would meet the definition of ‘mental injury,’ which these two circumstances would, is a despicable act and should be punished accordingly.”
In the case of the caged child, though Harman and Smith’s actions clearly constituted abuse, law enforcement found it difficult to match what they found with the current legal definition.
“We needed to get an addition to the law so that if a case like this happened again, it would be easier to charge,” Albany County Undersheriff Robert DeBree said.
