HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 A new law passed by the State Senate earlier last week could protect victims and survivors of sexual and violent crimes. <\/p>\n
Senate Bill 1484, known as the “Kayleigh’s Law,” is a lifetime no-contact law that could help victims get protection from their offenders. <\/p>\n
Kayleigh Kozak, born and raised in Arizona, told CBS 21 that she was sexually abused by her Physical Education teacher, who also happened to be her soccer coach when she was in sixth and seventh grade. <\/p>\n
She said her abuser spent time in prison but was later released. Kozak then learned that the state did not have post-probation protections in place, prompting her to advocate for herself and other survivors.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo victim should ever have to endure the things that I\u2019ve had to endure 20 years after my abuser was sentenced and convicted and I\u2019m still fighting him,\u201d Kozak said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd something that I should never lose, or any victim should ever lose, is the option to have permanent protection that stays in place” Kozak said. <\/p>\n
Kozak has advocated for the bill in several states, including Pennsylvania. If the bill passes the state House, Pennsylvania would become the fifth state in the country to enact the law.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Tracy Pennycuick, a Republican who represents parts of Montgomery and Berks counties, said the bill would help survivors avoid repeatedly returning to court to maintain their protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictims have already endured the crime and the difficult process of seeking justice. They deserve the opportunity to rebuild their lives without repeatedly returning to court to preserve their protection,\u201d Pennycuick said.<\/p>\n
Kozak said she reported her abuser when she was in ninth grade. She said he faced a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison, but his sentence was reduced to nine months and two terms of lifetime probation.<\/p>\n
Kozak said she was told by the abuser’s probation officer that he had completed the terms of his probation and was eligible to have his lifetime probation lifted and terminated.<\/p>\n
Under the bill, survivors would receive lifetime protective orders during sentencing without having to return to court to request protection from the person convicted of the crime.<\/p>\n
“In 2020, I was notified by his probation officer informing me that because he had completed the terms of his probation, he was actually eligible to have his probation. As a lifetime probation and completely lifted out and terminated,” said Kozak. <\/p>\n
\u201cVictims of sexual or violent crimes should not have to repeatedly relive their trauma,\u201d Pennycuick said.<\/p>\n
The bill would also apply to defendants who have sexual contact with minors, sexually assault or rape victims, stalk victims, and other felonies. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s needed because every 60 seconds in America, someone is sexually assaulted and they\u2019re worth fighting for, and they deserve this protection,\u201d Kozak said.<\/p>\n
There are only two House sessions remaining after the midterm election. If Kayleigh\u2019s Law does not pass, the state Senate would have to return next year to vote on it again.<\/p>\n
Kozak said she remains hopeful the bill will ultimately reach the governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 A new law passed by the State Senate earlier last week could protect victims…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-314407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}