Thank you for your comments on the matter throughout this thread. I recognize your expertise on existing law. We have an equal footing, as does every citizen, when it comes to opinions on future laws. I do not claim to know the law intimately. But my opinion is that the law is adequate on the subject when it is proved a partner or guardian knew and failed to protect. The application of that law is the problem, IMHO. It's too infrequently applied and so far from equally applied when it is, in my very novice opinion only. I don't believe the answer is more laws, when it comes to what a parent reasonsonably should have known. That is one treacherously slippery slope.
If we say someone should have known but did not know, IMOO that's not enough. There must be required some degree of intent, some degree of disregard for the welfare of another. Merely not knowing, IMOO, is too general to warrant a criminal charge. Why did the person not know? Whose responsibility was it to inform him or her? A percentage of the population still has no internet access. How do you know the mother 15 years ago even had access to the criminal information so readily available to us today?
Earlier in the thread, you mentioned that for roughly $100 anyone can get a criminal history on someone. Do you have any idea what a barrier $100 can be for some people? It's very easy to say, as some have suggested, then don't get involved with someone if you can't properly vet someone. It's another thing altogether to suggest holding someone criminally liable for your definition of what someone should have reasonably known. What is reasonable for you to know may not be reasonable for me to know and vice versa. In unpacking the particulars of what is reasonable for someone to know, you apply your definitions, your standards, your ethics, your lived experience, your circumstances. With all due respect, and IMOO, that's just as ill conceived as mandating an intelligence threshold that one must meet to have children.
With that, thank you for your time and thought provoking input. I speak as a sexual assault survivor; although, I recognize that the journey and challenges are unique to each individual. I add that to convey to you that I am no stranger to the general challenges that are common to all survivors. I feel passionately that harsh penalties should be applied to anyone who chooses, by action or lack thereof, to harm a child. It is my opinion only, however, that a lack of regard should be required before anyone is held criminally responsible.
