AUGUSTA, Maine — A pair of bills requiring notification of authorities when a child is missing drew support Thursday from Gov. Paul LePage, police and lawmakers who said they have been flooded with emails since last year’s event that inspired the proposals: the disappearance of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in Florida.
Testimony before the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee also included references to a case much closer to home, the disappearance of 20-month old Ayla Reynolds of Waterville just over a month ago. While that unsolved case is about a missing child, Ayla was reported gone hours from the time she was last seen, not a month it took Caylee Anthony’s mother to report her child missing.
Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, was acquitted of murder last summer.
Since that time, outraged citizens around Maine have demanded legislation to prevent that happening in their state, “to send a clear message that such neglect will not be tolerated,” said Rep. Joyce Maker, R-Calais, who spoke in favor of both bills.
One bill would make failing to report a missing child within 24 hours a crime, and the other would make it a crime to fail to report a missing child under 13 years old within 48 hours.
Quick reporting of a missing child is key to either finding the child or successfully investigating an abduction, Winthrop police Chief Joe Young, representing the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, told the committee.
“It’s reprehensible to think a parent or guardian would not know the whereabouts of their children at all times,” said Young.
The sponsor of the bill setting a 48-hour limit, Rep. Anna Blodgett, D-Augusta, said Joseph Massey, the police chief in Waterville, the city where extensive searches for Ayla Reynolds have been conducted, told her he’s “very supportive” of her proposal.
The governor’s legal counsel, Dan Billings, said LePage supports both bills, adding they should be seen not as “a reaction to the headlines” about what happened in Florida but rather a hedge against a similar event in Maine.
Not everybody at the hearing agreed.
Representing the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Walter McKee said the bills surfaced without even anecdotal evidence that there’s a problem in Maine with delayed reporting of missing children.
“This is really and truly a solution in search of a problem,” said McKee.
While not taking a hard a stand against the bills, the Maine Criminal Law Advisory Commission urged caution as lawmakers deliberate the proposals.
Representing the legislatively created commission, John Pelletier said very few Maine statutes call for mandatory reporting, which “can have many unforeseen consequences.”
For example, the bills if not carefully crafted could make parents who fail to tell police that their child died of a disease guilty of a crime.
Pelletier advised lawmakers to “take a limited step, be on the guard for unforeseen consequences.”
If the attorney that got Casey acquitted is certain of her innocence, why is no one trying to figure out who murdered that child? Oh yeah, it was already proved beyond a shadow of a doubt except for the 12 ignorant jurors, an attorney and presumably a judge. Courtrooms are nothing more than soap operas where justice takes a back seat to theatrics and judges let it happen.
You are right that in this case those 12 jurors did a poor job in reviewing evidence. I dont know how a judge could be at fault unless he or she deliberately kept out evidence that showed the defendants guilt or he failed to direct the jury in how they were to perform their duties. I dont think a judge can tell jurors how to interpet evidence or suggest to them how it helps the prosecution prove a case or the defense disprove the case.
Once the jury gives a verdict does a judge have any legal right to set it aside and render his own verdict that is opposite of the juries?
No a judge can not set aside a verdict and she can not be charged again for this charge because of the double jeopardy laws. Even if she stood on Maine street and said “I killed my child and I am not sorry. ” The judge can not tell the jury how to rule and must abide by their decision. A judge does have the right to sentence however even if the jury comes back and says guilty and deserves the death penalty, the judge sentence to death or just jail. Every state has different sentencing rules based on state’s rules of law.
Somehow creating laws like this will apparently solve that problem, don’t ask me how but that seems to be the priority of law makers of Maine and Florida…maybe we should merge with Florida, we are copying their laws, Mainers go there in the winter time….
The worst excuse for knee jerk legislation is in response to no problem in Maine, but one case in Florida. If you can, please publish the name of the genius on the committee who thought this one up.
Its there in the artice. I agree, a tragic situation but once again it appears that we are trying to legislate in to law what nearly all of us would do in the first place.
One created it and apparently a Dem out of Augusta is doing something to amend it. Apparently “many” people had asked for this…apparently many people in this state must think Augusta is doing a great job at fixing the economy and job creation, etc. No wonder this state hits the crapper…
Anyone without something to hide would report there children missing immediately. As far as grandparents, well I started not showing up at my parents with my daughter then I think they would sooner or later be calling the authories. That being said , Casey Anthony’s mother appeared to be a bit of a nut and probably would be the type not to call the police. Tough one to call there.
What about my neighbor, say I dont see his kids outside playing like I do for two weeks. If I ask where his kids are and he says, ohh they went to visit their grandmother for the summer in Arizona then what am I suppossed to do. Call the grandmother to confirm it? Catch the wife outside and ask her? Do I wait until labor day and say, hmm, still no kids around?
Im not trying to make light of a serious problem. There is nothing funny here about this. But once again we appear to be trying to legislate into law what any decent human being would do in the first place. In the case of someone like Anthony’s loony mother, couldnt she already be prosecuted for hampering an investigation?
I watched the entire Anthony trial and I do believe that the CSI syndrome was responsible for the verdict. In today’s world of TV programs and 24 hour news has made it hard for people to convict when there is no smoking gun. The legislature taking up legislation to serve our children can only be an asset. I notice in the comments that people talk about Asyla Reynolds being reported the first thing in the morning and that may or may not be true. I have closely followed all the news and interviews in the Ayla Reynolds case and I must say I am not convinced that she was actually seen on the night of the 16th. If my memory serves correctly her mother Trista has stated she was not allowed to see or even talk with her daughter for many days before she became missing. I am sure the police are looking into all aspects of this case and will hopefully solve it so the family can the answers they desperately need. Also there are differing stories coming from Justin’s own mother who at first said she was there the last night Ayla was seen and then said she was not there the 16th. So are we all certain she was reported in a timely manner or is there a big smokescreen making the leads harder to follow. No legislation is not going to stop the monsters who hurt or kill our innocent children but by doing nothing then Jessica Lundsford, Summer Thompson, Caylee Anthony and Jorelys Rivera died in vain at the hands of very evil people. Then there are all the children who are abused both physically and sexually and will have many more children coming after them in similar situations. Our children are our not only our most precious gifts but they deserve every adult trying to keep them safe and not one second lost looking for them when evil lurks. The suicide of the coward Ryan Brunn today in Georgia just two days after confessing to kidnap, rape and murder of a beautiful 7 year old girl (
Jorelys Rivera-Killed Dec 7,2010) and disposing of her in a trash compacter is just another reason that these poor little souls need better protecting from all of us. It is not a parents fault when a child is taken from right out of their yards and it is up to all compassionate people to get involved when something just doesn’t seem right. One hundred wrong calls about our children to authorities is better than just one mother being told her baby is in the trash. I used to say I lived in Maine and loved the fact that crime didn’t seem to lurk in my safe place of home but it is a whole different world today and every time a child is hurt or worse I hurt in my heart cause evil does lurk everywhere. No longer is any small town where everyone knows everyone exempt and no child is unreachable if a monster wants to take them. Everyday in this country many children are physically and sexually abused, sold into human trafficking, hungry cause the parents money went to drugs instead of food and yes even murdered. I don’t think any legislation is a waste of time or money because if we don’t invest in our children then why invest in anything. Please join me in wishing that every child is held tonight and told they are loved and that every mother can be at peace because her baby is safe. Also let’s all try to find Maine’s missing treasure Ayla Reynolds and return her to her family as this beautiful baby deserves nothing less than cuddles, hugs and unconditional love.