STAND. COM. REP. NO.  614

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1021

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1021 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure the protection of Hawaii's children and more aggressively prevent possession and dissemination of child pornography by:

 

(1)  Criminalizing the possession of ten or more images of any form of child pornography as promoting child abuse in the second degree;

 

(2)  Mandating that a person convicted of promoting child abuse in the second degree serve a minimum five-year term of imprisonment; and

 

(3)  Mandating that if a person is convicted of promoting child abuse in the third degree and sentenced to probation, that probation shall include a minimum of one year imprisonment.

 

     The Attorney General, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Maui, Sex Abuse Treatment Center, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The Office of the Public Defender testified in opposition to this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

 

(1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2525, to encourage further discussion; and

 

(2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1021, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1021, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair