President Obama signed into law last month a law the requires the Department of Justice to investigate state child abuse laws to make sure abusers are appropriately punished. North Carolina was among the states that had incredibly lenient child abuse laws and criminal penalties. Unfortunately, in many states, such as Washington DC and its Child and Family Services Division, child abuse by parents gets overlooked as “custody disputes,” and the courts are lax at questioning that view because they tend to defer to the Washington DC Child and Family Services Division for its questionable “expertise.”

The law was called the Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act. It was introduced by Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger in honor of Kilah, young North Carolina girl, who was severely beaten by her stepfather in Union County North Carolina back in 2012.

Kilah Davenport died from those injuries earlier this year. Her death was caused by complications from the May 2012 assault that fractured her skull and left her permanently brain-damaged, a family friend said.

Here is a summary of the bill that is now law:

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

5/20/2014–Public Law.

Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act of 2013 – Directs the Attorney General to report every three years to the congressional judiciary committees on the penalties for violations of laws prohibiting child abuse in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and each U.S. territory, including whether the laws of that jurisdiction provide for enhanced penalties when the victim has suffered serious bodily injury or permanent or protracted loss or impairment of any mental or emotional function.

Amends the federal criminal code to apply certain increased criminal penalties against any person who commits domestic assault and who has a final conviction on at least two separate prior occasions under state, federal, or tribal court proceedings (a habitual offender) for offenses that would be, if subject to federal jurisdiction, assault, sexual abuse, or a serious violent felony against a spouse or intimate partner (as under current law) or against a child of, or in the care of, the person committing the domestic assault.

Read more: TWC New

Learn About the Kilah Davenport Foundation.

Learn about the Kilah Davenport Protection Act

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