BILL NUMBER: AB 929	CHAPTERED  08/31/01

	CHAPTER  210
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 31, 2001
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  AUGUST 30, 2001
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2001
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 19, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 19, 2001
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 17, 2001
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 2, 2001

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Frommer

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2001

   An act to amend Sections 999t and 999y of the Penal Code, relating
to child abuse.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 929, Frommer.  Child abuse.
   Under existing law, there is within the Office of Criminal Justice
and Planning the Child Abuser Prosecution Program.  This program
provides financial and technical assistance to district attorneys'
offices.  Existing law provides that each district attorney's office
establishing a child abuser prosecution unit shall receive funds
under this program, as specified, to concentrate enhanced prosecution
efforts and resources on individuals who are under arrest for sexual
assault of a child.  Existing law also requires the Office of
Criminal Justice Planning to report annually to the Legislature
concerning this program.
   This bill would make willful infliction of suffering or
unjustifiable pain, injury or endangerment of person or health,
assault resulting in death, as specified, cruel or inhumane corporal
punishment, injury resulting in traumatic condition, and distribution
of harmful matter with the intent of seducing a minor, when
committed in conjunction with any of the other violations listed,
offenses eligible for enhanced prosecution efforts.
   This bill would also require the Office of Criminal Justice
Planning to submit an evaluation of the Child Abuser Prosecution
Program, as specified, using outcome measures to determine its
effectiveness.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 999t of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   999t.  (a) An individual may be the subject of a child abuser
prosecution effort who is under arrest for the sexual assault of a
child, as defined in Section 11165, or a violation of subdivision (a)
or (b) of Section 273a, or a violation of Section 273ab, or 273d, or
a violation of Section 288.2 when committed in conjunction with any
other violation listed in this subdivision.
   (b) In applying the child abuser selection criteria set forth
above:  (1) a district attorney may elect to limit child abuser
prosecution efforts to persons arrested for any one or more of the
offenses described in subdivision (a) if crime statistics demonstrate
that the incidence of such one or more offenses presents a
particularly serious problem in the county; (2) a district attorney
shall not reject cases for filing exclusively on the basis that there
is a family or personal relationship between the victim and the
alleged offender.
   (c) In exercising the prosecutorial discretion granted by Section
999v, the district attorney shall consider the character, the
background, and the prior criminal background of the defendant.
  SEC. 2.  Section 999y of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   999y.  The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall report
annually to the Legislature concerning the program established by
this chapter.  The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall prepare
and submit to the Legislature on or before December 15, 2002, and
within six months of the completion of subsequent funding cycles for
this program, an evaluation of the Child Abuser Prosecution Program.
This evaluation shall identify outcome measures to determine the
effectiveness of the programs established under this chapter, which
shall include, but not be limited to, both of the following, to the
extent that data is available:
   (a) Child abuse conviction rates of Child Abuser Prosecution
Program units compared to those of nonfunded counties.
   (b) Quantification of the annual per capita costs of the Child
Abuser Prosecution Program compared to the costs of prosecuting child
abuse crimes in nonfunded counties.