Ryan Ray
Republican state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto of Ft. Myers has filed legislation to change course in a difficult area of state law — the legal status of child abuse evidence recorded unbeknownst to the abuser.
A recent Florida Supreme Court opinion overruled the conviction of a Lee County man found guilty of sexually abusing his stepdaughter, finding that the audio recordings admitted into evidence against him should not have been considered by the jury, as they were taken without her abuser’s consent.
“It may well be that a compelling case can be made for an exception … for recordings that provide evidence of criminal activity — or at least certain types of criminal activities,’’ said wrote Justice Charles Canady for the majority. “But the adoption of such an exception is a matter for the Legislature. It is not within the province of the courts to create such an exception by ignoring the plain import of the statutory text.”
Benacquisto’s bill, SB 542, seeks to create exactly the kind of exception Canady mentions.
“I will not stand by while child predators navigate loopholes in our legal system. Fear of not being believed prevents countless children from turning in their abusers,” said Benacquisto in a statement. “This bill will ensure Florida’s children have a voice in our courts of law, and I am eager to work with Attorney General Pam Bondi to close this devastating gap in our child protection laws. Together, we will continue to make sure that Florida is the most unfriendly place in America for sexually violent criminals who prey on our children.”
Sen. Wilton Simpson of Trilby has agreed to co-sponsor the bill and lend to it his considerable influence in the Senate.
“In a recent case, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a child rapist because the evidence against him was recorded by his victim without his knowledge,” said Simpson on Wednesday. “This defies common sense and basic human logic. The purpose of this bill is to ensure sexual abusers convicted based on recorded evidence stay in prison, and far away from our children. The message to pedophiles is clear: You have no right to privacy. Your rights ceased to exist when you chose to destroy the life of a child through sexual abuse.”
Lauren’s Kids founder and CEO Lauren Book responded to the filing with a statement:
“Last month’s McDade vs. State Florida Supreme Court ruling prevents prosecutors from using secret recordings made by children to prove they are being abused – it’s just not within the bounds of current Florida law, and that’s just not acceptable. The Florida Supreme Court agreed, directly calling upon the lawmakers to fix it.
“The young survivor at the center of the McDade vs. State case tried to tell at least three separate adults on three separate occasions about the abuse she was enduring, but her voice was silenced until she created a secret recording on her cell phone, which was ultimately not admissible as evidence. We cannot allow even one more child’s voice to be silenced. With 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys falling victim to sexual abuse before their 18th birthday, the time has come to use every tool at our disposal to protect children from the horror of sexual abuse.
“For this reason, I urge the swift adoption of legislation that would allow courts to consider recordings made secretly by children as evidence that an adult has sexually abused them. Senators Lizbeth Benacquisto and Wilton Simpson, Representatives Jared Moskowitz and Carlos Trujillo, and Attorney General Pam Bondi are to be applauded for their immediate response in the drafting and filing of legislation for early consideration to close this terribly abusive provision.
“As a survivor and advocate, I fully recognize the myriad barriers that prevent children from coming forward and telling about sexual abuse. They face shame, ridicule, embarrassment, guilt, fear…the list goes on and on. Worst of all, as we saw in McDade vs. State and hear far too often from survivors, it’s easy for adults to simply dismiss these accounts of abuse as the imaginings of confused, or rebellious, or spiteful children – not as the accurate, heart-breaking truths these children were forced to live through. The proposed legislation, by allowing children’s secret recordings to be admitted into evidence, will empower children and give prosecutors a potent tool to put predators behind bars where they belong.”
