H. B. 3252
(By Delegate Brown)
[Introduced March 25, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-8D-10, relating
to false reports of child abuse generally; providing for civil
liability; providing a criminal offense for falsely reporting
child abuse; and requiring community service for persons
convicted of violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-8D-10, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 8D. CHILD ABUSE.
§61-8D-10. False reporting of child abuse.
Any person who intentionally and knowingly makes a false
report of sexual or physical abuse of a child to any
law-enforcement agency or to any child protective services in this state is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be sentenced to no less than forty hours of community
service.
In addition to the criminal penalty provided herein, the
person convicted is also liable to the person falsely accused of
child abuse for the reasonable attorney fees, court costs and lost
income he or she incurred as a result of the false charge of child
abuse.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for civil
liability of a person falsely accusing another of child abuse. The
bill also establishes the criminal offense of falsely reporting
child abuse and it provides for sentencing a person convicted of a
violation to community service.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.