| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the prosecution and punishment of offenses related to |
|
|
the failure to stop or report certain crimes committed against a |
|
|
child. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 38.172 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 38.172. FAILURE TO STOP OR REPORT CERTAIN CRIMES |
|
|
COMMITTED AGAINST CHILD. (a) For purposes of this section: |
|
|
(1) "Child" means a person younger than 17 years of |
|
|
age. |
|
|
(2) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section |
|
|
71.003, Family Code. |
|
|
(3) "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section |
|
|
71.005, Family Code. |
|
|
(b) A person commits an offense if: |
|
|
(1) the actor observes the commission or attempted |
|
|
commission of an offense under Title 5, Title 6, or Chapter 43 under |
|
|
circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that an |
|
|
offense was being committed or was about to be committed; |
|
|
(2) the victim or intended victim of the offense is a |
|
|
child who is a member of the actor's family or a current member of |
|
|
the actor's household; and |
|
|
(3) the actor, without placing the actor in danger of |
|
|
suffering serious bodily injury or death, fails to assist the child |
|
|
or immediately report the commission or attempted commission of the |
|
|
offense. |
|
|
(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the punishment for an offense |
|
|
under this section is: |
|
|
(1) one category lower than the punishment for the |
|
|
offense the actor observes being committed against the child, if |
|
|
the actor observes an offense being committed; or |
|
|
(2) one category lower than the punishment for the |
|
|
attempted commission of the offense the actor observes attempting |
|
|
to be committed against the child, if the actor observes the |
|
|
attempted commission of an offense. |
|
|
(d) If the offense or the attempted commission of an offense |
|
|
the actor observes is a state jail felony, an offense under this |
|
|
section is a Class A misdemeanor. |
|
|
(e) If conduct constituting an offense under this section |
|
|
also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be |
|
|
prosecuted under: |
|
|
(1) this section; |
|
|
(2) the other law; or |
|
|
(3) both this section and the other law. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 38.17, Penal Code, is repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
|
|
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the |
|
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
|
|
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |