BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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H.213 1
Introduced by Representative Noyes of Wolcott 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Crimes; human services; child abuse and neglect; assessment and 5
investigation 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to expand the 7
bases of child abuse and neglect assessments and investigations by developing 8
a statute to specify torture of a child and including investigatory bases for 9
general lewd and lascivious conduct, as well as domestic assaults and offenses 10
committed in the presence of a child. This bill also proposes including child 11
advocacy centers and empaneled multidisciplinary teams in the assessment and 12
investigation processes. 13
An act relating to amending the bases and process of child abuse and 14
neglect investigations 15
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 16
Sec. 1. 13 V.S.A. § 1304 is amended to read: 17
§ 1304. CRUELTY TO A CHILD; TORTURE OF A CHILD 18
(a) A person over 16 years of age, having the custody, charge, or care of a 19
child, who willfully through omission, neglect, or reckless act, assaults, ill 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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treats, neglects, or abandons or exposes such child, or causes or procures such 1
child to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned, or exposed, in a manner 2
to cause such child unnecessary physical suffering or emotional distress, or to 3
endanger his or her the child’s health, shall be imprisoned not more than two 4
years or fined not more than $500.00, or both. 5
(b)(1) A person is guilty of torture of a child when the person knowingly 6
inflicts serious bodily injury or severe emotional distress, or both, against 7
another person within the person’s custody, charge, or care. 8
(2)(A) A person who is convicted of torture shall be imprisoned not 9
more than five years or fined not more than $10,000.00, or both. 10
(B) If the child suffers death, or serious bodily injury as defined in 11
subdivision 1021(2) of this title, or is subjected to sexual conduct as defined in 12
subdivision 2821(2) of this title, the person shall be imprisoned not more than 13
ten 10 years or fined not more than $20,000.00, or both. 14
(3) It shall not be an affirmative defense to a charge under this 15
subsection that the alleged victim did not suffer pain. 16
(2)(4) It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge under this subsection 17
(b), if proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant engaged 18
in the conduct set forth in subsection (a) of this section because of a reasonable 19
fear that he or she the person or another person would suffer death, bodily 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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injury, or serious bodily injury as defined in section 1021 of this title, or sexual 1
assault in violation of chapter 72 of this title. 2
(c) The provisions of this section do not limit or restrict the prosecution for 3
other offenses arising out of the same conduct, nor shall it limit or restrict 4
defenses available under common law. 5
(d) As used in this section: 6
(1) “Emotional distress” has the same meaning as in subdivision 7
1061(2) of this title. 8
(2) “Serious bodily injury” has the same meaning as in subdivision 9
1021(a)(2) of this title. 10
(3) “Sexual conduct” has the same meaning as in subdivision 2821(2) of 11
this title. 12
Sec. 2. 24 V.S.A. § 1940 is amended to read: 13
§ 1940. SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNITS; BOARDS; GRANTS 14
(a) Pursuant to the authority established under section 1938 of this title, and 15
in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, investigative agencies, 16
victims’ advocates, child advocacy centers, and social service providers, the 17
Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs shall coordinate efforts to 18
provide access in each region of the State to special investigative units that: 19
(1) shall investigate: 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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(A) an incident in which a child suffers, by other than accidental 1
means, serious bodily injury as defined in 13 V.S.A. § 1021; and 2
(B) potential violations of: 3
(i) 13 V.S.A. § 2602 (lewd or lascivious conduct with child); 4
(ii) 13 V.S.A. chapter 60 (human trafficking); 5
(iii) 13 V.S.A. chapter 64 (sexual exploitation of children); 6
(iv) 13 V.S.A. chapter 72 (sexual assault); and 7
(v) 13 V.S.A. § 1379 (sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult); and 8
(2) may investigate: 9
(A) an incident in which a child suffers: 10
(i) bodily injury, by other than accidental means, as defined in 13 11
V.S.A. § 1021; or 12
(ii) death; 13
(B) potential violations of: 14
(i) 13 V.S.A. § 2601 (lewd and lascivious conduct); 15
(ii) 13 V.S.A. § 2605 (voyeurism); and 16
(iii) 13 V.S.A. § 1304 (cruelty to a child); and 17
(3) may assist with the investigation of other incidents, including 18
incidents involving domestic violence and crimes against vulnerable adults. 19
* * * 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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Sec. 3. 33 V.S.A. § 4915 is amended to read: 1
§ 4915. ASSESSMENT AND INVESTIGATION 2
(a) Upon receipt of a report of abuse or neglect, the Department shall 3
promptly determine whether it constitutes an allegation of child abuse or 4
neglect as defined in section 4912 of this title. The Department shall respond 5
to reports of alleged neglect or abuse that occurred in Vermont and to out-of-6
state conduct when the child is a resident of or is present in Vermont. 7
(b) If the report is accepted as a valid allegation of abuse or neglect, the 8
Department shall determine whether to conduct an assessment as provided for 9
in section 4915a of this title or to conduct an investigation as provided for in 10
section 4915b of this title. The Department shall begin either an assessment or 11
an investigation within 72 hours after the receipt of a report made pursuant to 12
section 4914 of this title, provided that it has sufficient information to proceed. 13
The Commissioner may waive the 72-hour requirement only when necessary 14
to locate the child who is the subject of the allegation or to ensure the safety of 15
the child or social worker. 16
(c) The decision to conduct an assessment shall include consideration of 17
the following factors: 18
(1) the nature of the conduct and the extent of the child’s injury, if any; 19
(2) the accused person’s prior history of child abuse or neglect, or lack 20
thereof; and 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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(3) the accused person’s willingness or lack thereof to accept 1
responsibility for the conduct and cooperate in remediation. 2
(d) The Department shall conduct an investigation when an accepted report 3
involves allegations indicating substantial child endangerment. For purposes 4
of this section, “substantial child endangerment” includes conduct by an adult 5
involving or resulting in sexual abuse, and conduct by a person responsible for 6
a child’s welfare involving or resulting in abandonment, child fatality, 7
malicious punishment, or abuse or neglect that causes serious physical injury. 8
The Department may conduct an investigation of any report. 9
(e) The Department shall begin an immediate investigation if, at any time 10
during an assessment, it appears that an investigation is appropriate. 11
(f) The Department may shall collaborate with child protection, law 12
enforcement, child advocacy centers, empaneled multidisciplinary teams 13
pursuant to section 4917 of this title, and other departments and agencies 14
entities in Vermont and other jurisdictions to evaluate risk to a child and to 15
determine the service needs of the child and family. The Department may 16
enter into reciprocal agreements with other jurisdictions to further the purposes 17
of this subchapter. 18
(g) The Department shall report to and receive assistance from appropriate 19
law enforcement in the following circumstances: 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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(1) investigations of child sexual abuse by an alleged perpetrator 10 1
years of age or older; 2
(2) investigations of serious physical abuse or neglect requiring 3
emergency medical care, resulting in death, or likely to result in criminal 4
charges; 5
(3) situations potentially dangerous to the child or Department worker; 6
and 7
(4) situations where children may have witnessed violence, injury, 8
coercion, manipulation, or incidents of criminal activity; and 9
(5) an incident in which a child suffers: 10
(A) serious bodily injury as defined in 13 V.S.A. § 1021, by other 11
than accidental means; and 12
(B) potential violations of: 13
(i) 13 V.S.A. § 2602 (lewd or lascivious conduct with child); 14
(ii) 13 V.S.A. chapter 60 (human trafficking); 15
(iii) 13 V.S.A. chapter 64 (sexual exploitation of children); and 16
(iv) 13 V.S.A. chapter 72 (sexual assault); 17
(v) 13 V.S.A. § 1304 (cruelty to a child; torture of a child); 18
(vi) 13 V.S.A. chapter 19, subchapter 6 (domestic assaults; 19
offenses committed within presence of a child); or 20
(vii) 13 V.S.A. § 2601 (lewd and lascivious conduct). 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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(h) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, reports, assessments, or 1
investigations that are not accepted pursuant to the criteria of this section shall 2
be shared with local child advocacy centers and a member of the local Special 3
Investigation Unit to evaluate whether to commence a criminal investigation or 4
to provide support services for the well-being and safety of any children 5
involved. 6
Sec. 4. 33 V.S.A. § 4917 is amended to read: 7
§ 4917. MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS; EMPANELING 8
(a) The Commissioner or his or her the Commissioner’s designee may 9
impanel a multidisciplinary team or a special investigative multitask force 10
team, or both, wherever in the State there may be a probable case of child 11
abuse or neglect that warrants the coordinated use of several professional 12
services. These teams shall participate and cooperate with the local special 13
investigation unit in compliance with 13 V.S.A. § 5415 and 24 V.S.A. § 1940. 14
(b) The Commissioner or his or her the Commissioner’s designee, in 15
conjunction with professionals and community agencies, shall appoint 16
members to the multidisciplinary teams, which may include persons who are 17
trained and engaged in work relating to child abuse or neglect such as 18
medicine, mental health, social work, nursing, child care, child advocacy 19
centers, education, law, or law enforcement. The teams shall include a 20
representative of the Department of Corrections. Additional persons may be 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.213
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appointed when the services of those persons are appropriate to any particular 1
case. 2
(c) The empaneling of a multidisciplinary or special investigative multi-3
task multitask force team shall be authorized in writing and shall specifically 4
list the members of the team. This list may be amended from time to time as 5
needed as determined by the Commissioner or his or her the Commissioner’s 6
designee. 7
Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE 8
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 9