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Sen. Sacco introduces law named after dead Florida child

State Sen. Nicholas J. Sacco (D-Hudson) on Monday introduced "Caylee's Law," a bill designed to make New Jersey among the first states in the nation to require parents to promptly report a missing child.

Named for Caylee Anthony, a Florida child who was not reported missing for 31 days after her disappearance and was later found dead in December 2008, the bill seeks to protect other children from suffering the same tragic fate. Under current law, failing to report a death is a disorderly person offense, and there is no set timeframe for reported a child missing.

“No matter the outcome of the Casey Anthony trial, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect children, and this bill does that,” Sacco said. “I cannot think of any situation in which the parents of a young child would be justified in not calling the police immediately if their son or daughter went missing. Hopefully, this law will prevent other children from befalling the same sad, tragic fate as Caylee.”

The proposal would make the failure by a parent or guardian to report a missing child under the age of 13 to law enforcement within 24 hours a fourth degree crime, punishable by imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000 or both. It also would upgrade the failure to report a death to the appropriate authorities in a timely manner or disturbing evidence of a death from a disorderly persons offense to a fourth degree crime.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) is sponsoring an identical bill in the Assembly that he plans to introduce at its next session.

“The entire country has mourned the loss of Caylee Anthony, whose little body laid in the woods for months before police were notified she was missing," Wisniewski said. "Had they been notified sooner, they could have determined the cause of her death and justice may have been served for this little girl. We know the first hours are crucial in finding a missing child. Prompt notification would help police with their search, and in the awful case that tragedy strikes, would help them determine the cause of death, get a guilty conviction and bring justice to the victim.”

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Sacco’s bill will be assigned to the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, where he is a member. If it passes the committee it will move to the full Senate. If it passes in the Assembly, the proposal will move to Gov. Chris Christie’s desk for consideration.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM