Proposed bill would strip fathers of parental rights in sexual assault cases

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Men who father a child during a sexual assault would lose all parental rights but could still be ordered to pay child support under a bill introduced Monday by a Nebraska lawmaker.

State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln proposed legislation that would allow the man to keep his parental rights only if the mother gives her consent and a judge deems it is in the child's best interest.

The bill would strip parental rights from the biological father once he is convicted of first-degree sexual assault. It would require county attorneys to file a petition to terminate the rights after a conviction, which itself would suffice as evidence that a father's rights should be terminated.

Judges would also have the option to order that the father pay child support, unless they determined that doing so ran contrary to the child's interests. The measure would require judges to put the father's request for custody rights on hold during criminal proceedings, and would allow the paternity action to proceed if the father was found not guilty.


FULL story at link.



Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130114/NEWS/130119807/1685#proposed-bill-would-strip-fathers-of-parental-rights-in-sexual-assault-cases

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This is huge for NE!

[seabeyond]

1. that works. i have been bothered knowing that a rapist could have parental rights

if a woman decided to keep a baby that is created from rape.

this would be starters.

[Ian David]

2. Shouldn't it be ALL rapists, and not just fathers? It's not as common, but men get raped, too.

Either way, I'm still in favor of this bill.

[shraby]

3. Men, as a rule don't have give birth.

[Ian David]

4. True, that's kind of an important distinction. n/t

[duhneece]

5. Really? Really?

We need a law for this? I would have thought it was automatic, somehow.

[KarenS]

8. yes, unfortunately there needs to be a law for this.

Logic says it should be automatic but there have been some news stories about rapists and their rights with children.

[kestrel91316]

6. Why is this necessary? It's impossible for women to GET pregnant during a sexual assault.

[cosmicone]

7. I thought if its a legitimate rape the body has a way of shutting .....

oh damn .. that was sooooo last year!

[Kber]

9. Years ago (1980?) my aunt sat next to a young woman and her infant son on the plane

she was headed down to Houston to hand the baby over to his adoptive parents.

The woman had been raped, but as a devout Christian, looked for an alternative to abortion. Unfortunately for her, her rapist (who she knew slightly) had to be convicted before the state would terminate his parental rights - which would take 6 - 9 months, and he wouldn't sign over consent to the adoption unless she dropped her charges.

So this poor woman was put into the position of having to decide between two competing beliefs - the first being her personal problem with having and abortion and the second, implied consent to sexual assault.

She had all but decided to have an abortion when her attacker died in a motorcycle accident! (Go figure!). So she contacted an adoption agency, and found a family who wanted her baby.

It was a case of confiding in a stranger - someone she never expected to see again (and never did). Anyway - the story stayed with my aunt, and with me, as an interesting lesson. Basically, the idea that a man should have control over his offspring, no matter what, almost "forced" a woman who didn't want an abortion to have one anyway. Makes you wonder, was the law designed to help a woman "choose life" or just enforce male domination over his "family"?

[okaawhatever]

16. Thanks for sharing that. I never even considered something like that as a possibility.....n/t

[Nanjing to Seoul]

10. Good step. . .a little suspicious though. This could be step one to "they lost parental rights

so you don't need an abortion, baby killer." Other than that fear, it is a good idea.

[malibea]

11. This is GREAT!

This is great, especially for those mothers who are afraid to say that these violent, asinine fathers CAN NOT see the child. As a former worker in Child Welfare, I know that these bastards DEMAND that they see their child and the mother is afraid to say no. This losing son of a bitch even threatens the woman if she says he cannot see the baby. Now thank God, there is some permanent relief for these mothers and their babies. Hurrah!

[obama2terms]

12. It's shameful we need a law to prevent this

It's pretty sick that a rapist can get parental rights, it should be obvious that the man is dangerous and shouldn't be within 100 feet of the child! At least something is being done about it though.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. excellent

[uppityperson]

14. Excellent and Nebraska? Yay for them.

[musical_soul]

15. That's good.

No woman wants to share custody with the man who violated her.

[malibea]

17. Or needs to - or be obliged to- share custody!

I would like to add that little bit to make it even stronger! It definitely pisses me off that women have to be confronted by these asshole bullies for a second time; once at the initial assault stage, and the second time when he has the audacity to demand anything

[840high]

18. Very good.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. and the paternity action proceeds if rapist is found not guilty.

I'm on mobile so I can't post the recent graphic showing just how often rapists are found guilty.

This may be a positive step but not by much. And it's no substitute for safe legal abortion rights. And a cultural change to punishing criminals rather than victims.