County attorney hopes lawmakers pass new child abuse law

Dec. 17--A Leavenworth man who pleaded guilty to battering an infant recently was sentenced for aggravated battery charges. But the county attorney is hoping similar cases can be prosecuted in the future under a new aggravated child abuse law.

The state already has an abuse of a child law in place. But a bill introduced earlier in the year in the Kansas House of Representatives would have created a new criminal charge of aggravated abuse of a child.

The bill was never voted out of the House's Judiciary Committee, according to legislative records.

Todd Thompson, county attorney for Leavenworth County, hopes the bill will pass during the 2020 legislation session, which will begin next month.

Robert F. Green was sentenced earlier this month in Leavenworth County District Court for two counts of aggravated battery of a 3-month-old child. Green was sentenced to 43 months for each of the two counts for a total of 86 months, or seven years and two months.

"We got the highest sentence we could for what we had for a case," Thompson said.

He said an aggravated abuse of a child charge, as proposed to the state Legislature, could result in a more severe sentence than an aggravated battery charge.

"Sadly this will be a case that will be illustrative of why there is a need," he said of Green's case.

He said the bill that was introduced in the Kansas House of Representatives has support from the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association.

Twitter: @LVTNewsJohnR

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