| 1 | 1 | | 82R9316 AJZ-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Lucio III H.B. No. 1722 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the prosecution and punishment of offenses related to |
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| 8 | 8 | | the failure to stop or report certain crimes committed against a |
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| 9 | 9 | | child. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
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| 12 | 12 | | Section 38.172 to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 38.172. FAILURE TO STOP OR REPORT CERTAIN CRIMES |
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| 14 | 14 | | COMMITTED AGAINST CHILD. (a) For purposes of this section: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) "Child" means a person younger than 17 years of |
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| 16 | 16 | | age. |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) "Family" has the meaning assigned by Section |
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| 18 | 18 | | 71.003, Family Code. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (3) "Household" has the meaning assigned by Section |
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| 20 | 20 | | 71.005, Family Code. |
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| 21 | 21 | | (b) A person commits an offense if: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) the actor observes the commission or attempted |
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| 23 | 23 | | commission of an offense under Title 5, Title 6, or Chapter 43 under |
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| 24 | 24 | | circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that an |
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| 25 | 25 | | offense was being committed or was about to be committed; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) the victim or intended victim of the offense is a |
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| 27 | 27 | | child who is a member of the actor's family or a current member of |
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| 28 | 28 | | the actor's household; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (3) the actor, without placing the actor in danger of |
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| 30 | 30 | | suffering serious bodily injury or death, fails to assist the child |
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| 31 | 31 | | or immediately report the commission or attempted commission of the |
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| 32 | 32 | | offense. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (c) Subject to Subsection (d), the punishment for an offense |
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| 34 | 34 | | under this section is: |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) one category lower than the punishment for the |
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| 36 | 36 | | offense the actor observes being committed against the child, if |
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| 37 | 37 | | the actor observes an offense being committed; or |
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| 38 | 38 | | (2) one category lower than the punishment for the |
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| 39 | 39 | | attempted commission of the offense the actor observes attempting |
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| 40 | 40 | | to be committed against the child, if the actor observes the |
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| 41 | 41 | | attempted commission of an offense. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (d) If the offense or the attempted commission of an offense |
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| 43 | 43 | | the actor observes is a state jail felony, an offense under this |
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| 44 | 44 | | section is a Class A misdemeanor. |
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| 45 | 45 | | (e) If conduct constituting an offense under this section |
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| 46 | 46 | | also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be |
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| 47 | 47 | | prosecuted under: |
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| 48 | 48 | | (1) this section; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (2) the other law; or |
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| 50 | 50 | | (3) both this section and the other law. |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 2. Section 38.17, Penal Code, is repealed. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 53 | 53 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 54 | 54 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 55 | 55 | | covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the |
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| 56 | 56 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 57 | 57 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 58 | 58 | | this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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