SPONSOR: Tate
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety by a vote of 9 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Legislative Oversight by a vote of 9 to 0.
This bill specifies that a child taken into the custody of the state or a child under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court shall not be reunited with a parent or placed in a home in which a parent or any person residing in the home has been found guilty of sexual trafficking of a child in the first degree.
Additionally, in any court proceedings relating to child custody, the court shall not award custody or unsupervised visitation, or visitation to a parent not granted custody, of a child to a parent if such parent or any person residing with such parent has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to sexual trafficking of a child in the first degree.
This bill is similar to HB 2336 (2018).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this legislation puts back into statute that a child placed in the jurisdiction of a court will not be placed back in the custody of someone who has committed sex trafficking in the first degree.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Tate and the Missouri Prosecutor's Association.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
OTHERS: Others testifying on the bill say that they are available to answer any questions.
Testifying on the bill was Caleb Neeley, Missouri Department of Social Services.
Statutes affected: