Thursday, May 28, 1998
COLUMBUS -- The House has passed a bill that would establish county boards to review the deaths of children, but did so only after adding an amendment allowing the videotaping of witnesses -- including children -- in cases of suspected abuse.
The House passed the bill, sponsored by Rep. Jacqueline O'Brien, R-Cincinnati, 89-6 Wednesday.
The bill requires counties to maintain a database of child deaths to determine how they can be prevented. It would, for example, keep track of fire deaths to determine whether working smoke detectors were in use.
The counties would send the Ohio Department of Health annual reports on the deaths and their causes.
The videotaping amendment, sponsored by Barbara Pringle, D-Cleveland, was added to the bill by a vote of 53-38 that crossed party lines. It also would give authorities broader power over children's services departments.
Supporters said it gave authorities a new tool for investigating child abuse; opponents said it would undercut children's agencies and cost local governments too much money.
Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora, said videotaping children already traumatized by abuse would not be in their best interests. She also said law enforcement agencies opposed it. "You have to realize the chilling effect this will have on prosecutions," she said.
But Rep. Jeffrey Jacobson, R-Dayton, said the amendment would hold local officials more accountable. "We would be able to say, "Did they do their job?' " he said.
The bills now go to the Senate.
