Senate Bill No. 522
(By Senator Jackson, By Request)
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[Introduced February 19, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article eight-d,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to child abuse
resulting in bodily injury and serious bodily injury; and
criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article eight-d, chapter sixty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8D. CHILD ABUSE.
§61-8D-3. Child abuse resulting in injury; criminal penalties.
(a) If any parent, guardian, or custodian or other person
shall abuse abuses a child and by such abuse cause such the abuse
causes the child bodily injury as such that term is defined in
section one, article eight-b of this chapter, then such the
parent, guardian, or custodian or other person shall be is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or
imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than
five years, or in the discretion of the court, be confined in the
county jail for not more than one year, or both such fine and
imprisonment or confinement fined and imprisoned or confined.
(b) If any parent, guardian, or custodian or other person
shall abuse abuses a child and by such abuse cause such the abuse
creates a substantial risk of death to the child or causes the
child serious bodily injury as such that term is defined in
section one, article eight-b of this chapter, then such the
parent, guardian, or custodian or other person shall be is guilty
of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than one thousand nor more than five thousand dollars or
imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than
ten years, or both such fine and imprisonment imprisoned in the
penitentiary for a definite term of years of not less than one
year nor more than five years, which sentence may not be subject
to parole until at least one year of incarceration has been
served.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a definite
term of incarceration for child abuse resulting in serious bodily
injury and to prohibit parole within one year of initial
confinement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.