By Jordan Gentile
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - Parents who leave their children alone in a hot car could face felony charges and end up in prison under a bill introduced Tuesday.

"As a prosecutor who has dealt with this kind of case, I saw the gruesome photos of what occurred when people left children in cars," said state Rep. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus.

"With this legislation, we're sending a message to think twice about the consequences."

The measure would crack down on parents and guardians who leave children under 7 years of age in a car without supervision when any harmful condition is present, including extreme heat.

Hughes said the need for tougher penalties was brought to his attention by Franklin County Juvenile Domestic Court Judge Kim Browne, who told him she had noticed a rash of such child neglect incidents and realized that Ohio has no law specifically addressing it.

"It did surprise me, since Ohio is a pretty cutting-edge state when it comes to child-endangerment laws," Browne said.

States like Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida have laws addressing the issue, she said.

But in Ohio, all persons charged with leaving children in hot cars are charged under the child-endangerment statute, which offers no specific penalty for the offense.

As a result, rulings have been inconsistent. In the past year, some individuals in Ohio have been successfully charged with felonies, while others have gotten misdemeanor convictions.

The new law would make all incidents of neglect involving cars a felony, even if a child is not seriously hurt or killed.

A first conviction would come with a sentence of probation or up to one year in prison; a second would bring a sentence of up to 18 months and a third would come with a sentence of up to five years. All convictions stemming from the death of a child would remain third-degree felonies, as is currently the case, with a mandatory sentence of up to five years.

"I do think there should be tougher convictions for people who do this," Hughes said. "You shouldn't have someone in Medina getting probation, while someone else in Franklin County goes to prison."

While a number of recent deaths in the U.S. have occurred as the result of children left in overheated automobiles, including one last year in Medina, Ohio, and two in the past three months outside the state, Cincinnati has managed to avoid high-profile incidents.

In the past few years, no one in the Cincinnati area has been successfully charged with a felony for leaving a child in a car, according to the Hamilton County Family and Children First Council.

City Prosecutor Ernest McAdams Jr. said most incidents of neglect he sees involving automobiles have not involved heat stroke.

But while prosecution is uncommon, incidents of this type of neglect in Cincinnati aren't unheard of, said Dr. Robert Shapiro, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati.

He said he has witnessed several fatalities from automobile-induced heat stroke in the decade he has practiced medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

"It isn't that unusual," he said. "Some people just don't know what to do with their babies when they go to work, or to the store. Clearly, there needs to be more awareness."