The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, May 6, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
Utah lawmakers gave their initial approval to a bill that would enhance punishment for the most extreme cases of child abuse — cases so heinous that advocates say they can be defined as torture.
Speaking to lawmakers during a Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee on Wednesday, one expert likened it to being a “POW in your own home.”
The bill, called Child Abuse and Torture Amendments, is sponsored by Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George, and makes child torture a standalone, first-degree felony, imposing a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years. Currently, child torture is prosecuted as aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony.
“These are cases that involve confinement, sometimes with ropes, chains, or handcuffs. Sometimes in closets or crawl spaces. Often involves the restriction of access to toilets, requiring the child to use a diaper or a bucket they were given. It frequently involves malnutrition,” said Toni Laskey, the medical director of the Utah Children’s Justice Centers. “It may include bizarre and extreme exercise regimes that result in physical injury.”
Laskey, speaking to lawmakers during Thursday’s meeting, said the cases can have a “severe psychological component,” like having family members pretend that the child doesn’t exist, barring them from going to school, having friends or going outside, and in some instances, even killing their pets.
Laskey said the children in these extreme cases often grow up to have issues with addiction, risk-taking, anger, anxiety and depression; some have been conditioned to believe they deserved the abuse; they’re behind their peers, both socially and mentally; there are even cases where the children need to relearn how to eat properly.
“It will take a lifetime of intensive work to undo,” she said.
Under current Utah law, if a child is killed in the abuse, there are lofty charges prosecutors can pursue, including homicide, said Eric Clarke, the Washington County Attorney. But if they survive the abuse, “there is nothing that adequately addresses what happens to these children,” he said.
The first time someone commits child torture, the sentencing guideline recommends no prison time, Clark said. “Someone must have a lengthy criminal history before any prison is recommended for this crime.”
Clarke’s office prosecuted one of the more high-profile cases of child abuse in Utah in recent years — Ruby Franke.
Franke was a popular family vlogger whose YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, racked up nearly 2.5 million followers. Allegations of child abuse dogged Franke and in September 2023, she was arrested after her 12-year-old malnourished child ran to a neighbor’s door asking for help.
The child, who escaped from the home of Franke’s associate, Jodi Hildebrandt , had “open wounds and duct tape around” their extremities, according to a police report. Police then found Franke’s 10-year-old child in Hildebrandt’s home, also malnourished.
Both Franke and Hildebrandt were sentenced to four one-to-15 year prison terms for child abuse.
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The Utah Department of Health and Human Services also recently presented findings from another grim case of child abuse that, under Ipson’s bill, could meet the definition of child torture.
Over the summer, prosecutors say 12-year-old Gavin Peterson of West Haven was starved to death by family members, who according to court documents, talked about beating him and withholding food. Court records show the child was so malnourished he experienced organ failure.
Gavin’s father, 46-year-old Shane Peterson, has been charged with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony; two counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony; and endangerment of a child, a third-degree felony. Gavin’s stepmother, 50-year-old Nichole Scott, and his brother, 21-year-old Tyler Peterson, were also charged with child abuse homicide and aggravated child abuse.
While the Franke and Peterson cases could illustrate examples of what lawmakers call child torture, at least one attorney during the meeting took issue with the notion that child abusers aren’t held accountable.
Speaking during the meeting’s public comment period, Mark Moffat with the Utah Defense Lawyers Association told lawmakers that everything in the bill is already a crime in Utah. “It’s already prosecuted, it’s already punished,” he said.
“There’s no evidence before this committee that these crimes are not already being appropriately punished,” he said. “I can’t imagine that there’s a judge sitting in the state of Utah who would listen to the stories that have been conveyed to this committee and would not send somebody to prison. These people are going to prison.”
Other lawmakers had concerns with the bill’s definition of “psychological abuse,” worried that it could have varying interpretations and result in overly harsh penalties for parents.
“There are a number of national agencies out there that would qualify denying gender affirming care, for example, as seriously harming a child’s psychological development,” said Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City. “There might be conflict if we don’t define what we mean by psychological harm.”
Laskey, in response, told MacPherson: “I can quite confidently say, while you and I might parent differently, I would not categorize what you said as psychologically harmful, let alone psychologically abusive.”
Ultimately, the bill passed with MacPherson being the lone “no” vote. It will be considered again this upcoming legislative session, and the bill’s sponsor, Ipson, said he will continue tweaking definitions so they are less subjective.
“This is about accountability, not deterrence … this is a good first step to get going, and I give my word that we’ll work on this the first part of the session to get this done and done right,” he said.
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