State lawmakers are working to do their best to close up sexual assault loopholes in our current laws.
We did some digging into the new proposals and the changes that could be made.
One thing lawmakers are focusing on is changing the word "caretaker" used in the juvenile code. Lawmakers want to make sure that anyone taking care of a child, related or not, can be held responsible for the child's well-being.
The law right now only refers to parents and legal relatives.
It's something that has caused problems in the past.
"What we heard from our local DSS was that they were getting complaints, but because these people were to use a legal term 'biologically or legally remote' from these people.They weren't parents they were just related to the parents in terms of being in a relationship with them it was very difficult for DSS to get over that hurdle," said Representative Chaz Beasley.
So if there was a sexual offense between a child and adult, DSS could intervene faster than before.
This bill also hopes to update the definition of "Mentally Incapacitated." This would help with "date rape" kinds of cases.
It wants to clarify if the victim is mentally incapacitated because of themselves or because of someone else, regardless of what the reason is, they would still protected under the law.
