2019S0202-1 02/12/19
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 1542
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for the offense of injury to a child,
elderly individual, or disabled individual and creating the offense
of continuous injury to a child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 22.04, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (f-1) to read as
follows:
(f) Except as provided by Subsection (f-1), an [An] offense
under Subsection (a)(3) or (a-1)(3) is a felony of the third degree
when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly, except
that an offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a felony of the second
degree when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly and
the victim is a disabled individual residing in a center, as defined
by Section 555.001, Health and Safety Code, or in a facility
licensed under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, and the actor is
an employee of the center or facility whose employment involved
providing direct care for the victim. When the conduct is engaged
in recklessly, the offense is a state jail felony.
(f-1) An offense under Subsection (a)(3) or (a-1)(3) is a
felony of the second degree if:
(1) the conduct was committed intentionally or
knowingly;
(2) excessive force was used in the conduct that
resulted in the injury; and
(3) either:
(A) the victim of the offense was younger than
six years of age at the time the offense was committed; or
(B) it is shown on the trial of the offense that
the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under
this section or Section 22.042.
SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 22.042 to read as follows:
Sec. 22.042. CONTINUOUS INJURY TO A CHILD. (a) A person
commits an offense under this section if, during a period that is at
least 30 days but not more than five years, the person engages two
or more times in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section
22.04 and the victim is a child.
(b) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count
under Subsection (a) if the conduct that constitutes an offense
under Section 22.04 is alleged to have been committed against the
same victim.
(c) If a jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury are
not required to agree unanimously on which specific conduct engaged
in by the defendant constitutes an offense under Section 22.04 or on
which exact date the defendant engaged in that conduct. The jury
must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is
at least 30 days but not more than five years, engaged two or more
times in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 22.04.
(d) A defendant may not be convicted of an offense under
Section 22.04 and an offense under Subsection (a) of this section
against the same victim in the same criminal action unless the
offense under Section 22.04:
(1) is charged in the alternative;
(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense
alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or
(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser
included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).
(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree
punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice for a term of not more than 20 years or less than 15 years
if:
(1) the conduct constituting at least one of the
offenses under Section 22.04 caused serious bodily injury or
serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury to the victim; or
(2) the actor used or exhibited a deadly weapon during
the commission of at least one of the offenses under Section 22.04.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.