North Idaho lawmakers propose bill that would criminalize false child abuse claims
A new Idaho bill would create criminal penalties for falsely reporting child abuse.
Idaho law already allows victims of false reports, alleging they abused, abandoned or neglected a child, to collect civil damages. Two North Idaho Republicans on Tuesday introduced a bill that would make such reports a misdemeanor, punishable by a $1,000 fine and three months in jail.
“There’s a ton of incidents that are turned in that are really false claims,” co-sponsor Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, told the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee. “Right now, there’s just not a good punishment for that.”
Scott, who’s co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle, said false claims to child protection authorities often surface during custody battles between parents. Child protection authorities are “weaponized,” Herndon added.
“This is a real problem with a lot of numbers behind it,” Herndon said.
It’s at least the fourth proposal from Scott since 2019 dealing with child protection laws. Other proposals included requiring Idaho Department of Health and Welfare workers to notify parents of their constitutional rights during a child abuse investigation and changing who is required to report child abuse. None of the bills passed.
On his website, Herndon said he worked with Scott on three of the bills, before he was elected to the Idaho Senate.
Herndon wrote that child protective services, a catch-all term describing state and federal agencies responsible for responding to and investigating reports of child abuse, is “a well-funded federal racket.”
The North Idaho lawmakers also on Tuesday introduced a bill that would terminate the parental rights of a parent that conceived a child through rape, incest or lewd conduct with a minor.
Push for day cares to disclose vaccine exemptions
Herndon also introduced a bill that would require day care proprietors to disclose immunization exemptions to clients who ask about vaccine requirements for their children — the sixth piece of legislation he has introduced in two days.
Constituents asked for the mandate because they’re unaware of the “actual totality” of immunization requirements, Herndon told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday.
“When they’re told the requirements, they felt like they should get a fuller picture,” he said.
Herndon said he borrowed language from a 2021 law that directs public school officials to disclose vaccine exemptions to parents.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 5:15 PM.
