Bill Text: TX SB1542 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: 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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB1542 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB1542-Introduced.html
2019S0202-1 02/12/19 | ||
By: Menéndez | S.B. No. 1542 |
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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 [ |
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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. |