NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1529

Senate Bill S1529

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to providing that an assault of a child where the defendant has a previous conviction for an assault of a child shall be an assault in the first degree

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to codes
Jan 15, 2019	referred to codes

co-Sponsors

2019-S1529 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6627
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§120.10 & 120.12, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S6508
2013-2014: S530
2015-2016: S657
2017-2018: S681

2019-S1529 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to providing that an assault of a child where the defendant has a previous conviction for an assault of a child shall be an assault in the first degree.

2019-S1529 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1529

SPONSOR: KENNEDY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to assault of a child

 
PURPOSE:

This bill increases the penalties for persons convicted of assault or
aggravated assault against a child if that person has a previous or
previous convictions for similar crimes.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 120.10 subdivision 4 of the penal law and adds
new subdivision 5 to require that a person is guilty of assault in the
first degree if that person, with intent to cause physical injury to a
person less than eleven years old, recklessly causes serious physical
injury to such person, and has previously been convicted of assault or
attempted assault in the first, second and third degree against a person

less than eleven years old, or has previously been convicted of reckless
assault of a child or attempted reckless assault of a child.

Section 2 amends section 120.12 of the penal law by designating current
language as section 1 and requires that a person is guilty of aggravated
assault upon a person less than eleven years old when the defendant
commits the crime of assault in the third degree upon a person less than
eleven years old and has been previously convicted of such a crime with-
in the preceding ten years, instead of the current three years. This
section also changes the offense of aggravated assault upon a person
less than eleven years old from a class E felony to a class D felony.

Also amends section 120.12 of the penal law by adding subdivision 2,
which requires that aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven
years old shall be a class B felony if the person convicted has previ-
ously been convicted of aggravated assault upon a person less than elev-
en years old.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill aims to protect victims of child abuse by strengthening penal-
ties against violent offenders who hurt children. This bill will fix a
gap in state law wherein persons convicted of repeat violent assaults
upon children are given light sentences, despite the great deal of
damage done to the child.

In 2011 in North Tonawanda, NY, an infant boy named Jay J. Bolvin was
beaten by his father, Jeremy J. Bolvin, and was left with 11 fractured
bones and epilepsy. Jeremy J. Bolvin secured a plea bargain of third-de-
gree assault and attempted second-degree assault and was sentenced to 1
1/3-to-four years in prison. This was the maximum sentence that could be
imposed by the judge. However, in 2007, Bolvin was convicted of assault
in the third degree after beating another one of his sons and breaking
his arm. This shows a clearly defined pattern of abuse.

This bill will strengthen penalties against repeat violent offenders.


Under the bill, an adult will be charged with aggravated assault upon a
person less than eleven years old, if he or she was previously convicted
of assault after hurting a child within the preceding 10 years. This
measure strengthens state law by expanding the time window for an aggra-
vated assault charge from three to 10 years.

The legislation would also amend the penal law to make aggravated
assault upon a person less than eleven years old a class D felony.  If,
after release from prison, a third child abuse offense occurs, the
aggravated assault charge will become a class B felony. Class D felonies
carry a maximum sentence of 7 years, while a class B felony has a maxi-
mum sentence of 25 years.

This bill honors young Jay J, who struggles every day to recover from
the severe injuries he endured. Jay J suffers from Lennox-Gastaut
Syndrome, a neurological condition that causes seizures. According to
reports, doctors believe Jay J developed the disease after being abused
by his father as an infant. He still suffers 20 to 30 seizures a day and
it is likely he will have some cognitive troubles throughout his life.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2012: S.6508 Passed Senate/A.9488 Held for consideration in Codes

2013-14: S.530 PASSED SENATE died in assembly 01/08/14 REFERRED TO CODES

2015-16: S.657 PASSED SENATE

2017-18: S.681

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S1529 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1529
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 15, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. KENNEDY, ADDABBO, GALLIVAN, STAVISKY -- read twice
   and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
   on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to assault of a child
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.    Subdivision  4  of  section 120.10 of the penal law, as
 amended by chapter 791 of the laws of 1967, is amended and a new  subdi-
 vision 5 is added to read as follows:
   4.  In the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempted
 commission of a felony or of immediate flight therefrom, he, or  another
 participant  if there be any, causes serious physical injury to a person
 other than one of the participants[.]; OR
   5. BEING EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD OR MORE AND WITH INTENT TO CAUSE  PHYSICAL
 INJURY  TO  A  PERSON  LESS  THAN ELEVEN YEARS OLD, HE OR SHE RECKLESSLY
 CAUSES SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY TO SUCH PERSON; AND HAS  PREVIOUSLY  BEEN
 CONVICTED OF ASSAULT IN THE FIRST DEGREE, SECOND DEGREE, OR THIRD DEGREE
 AGAINST  A  PERSON  LESS THAN ELEVEN YEARS OLD; OR HAS BEEN CONVICTED OF
 ATTEMPTED ASSAULT IN THE FIRST DEGREE, SECOND DEGREE,  OR  THIRD  DEGREE
 AGAINST  A  PERSON  LESS THAN ELEVEN YEARS OLD; OR HAS BEEN CONVICTED OF
 RECKLESS ASSAULT OF A CHILD; OR ATTEMPTED RECKLESS ASSAULT OF A CHILD.
   § 2. Section 120.12 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 172 of the
 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
 § 120.12 Aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old.
   1. A person is guilty of aggravated assault upon a  person  less  than
 eleven  years  old  when  being eighteen years old or more the defendant
 commits the crime of assault in the third degree as defined  in  section
 120.00  of this article upon a person less than eleven years old and has
 been previously convicted of such crime upon a person less  than  eleven
 years old within the preceding ten years.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02061-01-9

 S. 1529                             2
 
   2.  AGGRAVATED  ASSAULT  UPON  A  PERSON LESS THAN ELEVEN YEARS OLD AS
 DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE  A  CLASS  B  FELONY
 WHEN THE PERSON SO CONVICTED HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN CONVICTED OF SUCH CRIME
 AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   Aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old is a class
 [E] D felony.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S1529

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Timothy M. Kennedy