Sen. Baldacci introduces bill to help protect Maine’s children

AUGUSTA — On Monday, March 27, Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, introduced LD 761, “An Act to Amend the Laws Governing the Crime of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and to Create the Crime of Aggravated Endangering the Welfare of a Child,” before the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. The bill creates the crime of “aggravated endangering the welfare of a child,” which is either a Class C or Class B crime depending on the severity of the child’s injuries.

“Under current law, if death or serious injury befalls a child under the current statute of endangering the welfare of a child, it is treated as a misdemeanor, and that needs to change,” said Sen. Baldacci. “This is a situation where our public duties require us to do everything that we can do to protect our children. As the Chief Justice of the Maine state Supreme Court noted, the number of child protective cases has increased dramatically, the number of kids in foster homes has increased dramatically, as well as child deaths.”

LD 761 strengthens criminal penalties for parents who endanger the welfare of their children in hazardous situations. If a parent endangers a child and it results in serious bodily harm, it is treated as a Class C crime, and if the child dies, it is treated as a Class B Crime.

Assistant District Attorney of Penobscot County Chelsea Lynds testified in favor of the bill.

“There is a disturbing statewide increase in the number of children who overdose on illicit drugs, like fentanyl, made accessible to the child by a parent or caregiver,” said Lynds, in testimony on behalf of the Maine Prosecutors Association. “In my own prosecutorial experience, these are very near-death experiences. A child who suffers a fentanyl overdose is unable to breathe on their own and requires breathing assistance to survive, including at times placement on a ventilator. The child also experiences a number of other symptoms, including lethargy/lifelessness, seizure behavior, vomiting and loss of consciousness. Survival is often the result of timely administration of Narcan. If an overdosing child does not receive Narcan on time and suffers a fatal overdose, then the person responsible for exposing that child to the overdose inducing drug is potentially subject to manslaughter and even murder charges.”

The bill awaits further action in committee.