The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of failure to stop or report aggravated sexual assault of a child. The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis relate to the incarceration or placement onto community supervision for criminal offenses.  Under the provisions of the bill, failure to stop or report aggravated sexual assault of a child would be punishable as a state jail felony. Under current statute, failure to stop or report aggravated sexual assault of a child is punishable as a class A misdemeanor. 

A Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000. A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A Misdemeanor punishment (mandatory post conviction community supervision).

Enhancing the penalty for any criminal offenses is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the state due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jail, state jail, or prison. When an offense is changed from a misdemeanor to a felony, there is a transfer of the burden of confinement of convicted offenders from the counties to the State.  In fiscal year 2012, less than 10 people were arrested and less than 10 people were placed on misdemeanor community supervision for failure to stop or report aggravated sexual assault of a child. For this analysis, it is assumed the number of offenders not released under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.