Pa. House passes child sex abuse bill inspired by York County father's quest for justice
Pennsylvania's House of Representatives gave support to a York County father’s push for tougher sentences for cops who prey sexually on children.
The measure combines a few related efforts, but the heart of it comes from Chris McGhee. He spent the past two years working to change the law after a York City police officer sexually abused his daughter and then received a probation sentence.
“We were sitting in the gallery and after the vote, everyone stood and turned towards us and applauded us,” McGhee said of Tuesday’s action, calling the moment surreal.
Lawmakers unanimously passed House Bill 355, by a 203-0 vote, and sent it to the state senate.
The measure, in its current form, would update two sections of law involving related crimes of corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor.
Language calls for the state to set up enhanced sentencing for courts to consider in cases where mandated reporters are guilty of sexually corrupting youth – with reporters involving those required to report suspected child abuse, including officers, teachers and health care providers.
At the same time, the definition of unlawful contact with a minor would spell out human trafficking, incest and sexual child endangerment as crimes that contribute to the illegal contact.
This portion was added to the bill earlier this week, according to the legislature’s website, essentially reviving a measure that cleared the House in 2021 but languished in the Senate.
The corruption of minors enhancement relates to work McGhee has done since 2023, when now-former officer Joseph Palmer Jr. pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to probation.
McGhee and his daughter, Grace, now a 19-year-old, have since become outspoken advocates for this bill and for survivors of sexual abuse in general.
“Seeing him walk free was not a good feeling — just because of his badge,” Grace said of Palmer in late March after the bill won unanimous passage by the House Judiciary Committee.
Background
Palmer, 31, was charged in August 2022 following an investigation into the McGhee family’s allegations that he’d sexually assaulted, preyed on, groomed and intimidated Grace for months from around September 2021 through February 2022.
The initial counts involved child sex abuse, including unlawful sexual contact, indecent assault, unlawful sexual communication, having sexual digital images, child pornography and corruption of minors.
A year later, in August 2023, Palmer agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor corruption of minors charge – a move Grace said she did not agree with.
He was sentenced to five years of probation, and the other charges were dropped.
Incensed by the deal, McGhee sought change on the state level to try and prevent similar outcomes in cases with people in authority similarly charged with sexual abuse.
“This initiative was about getting justice for victims,” D’Orsie said in March.
The roll took some a couple of years of work, including a failed prior attempt at a bill, before gaining traction with the bipartisan HB 355 this year.
Bipartisan support
Pielli’s concern centered on a similar case where a former teacher in Philadelphia, accused of trying to sexually abuse a student, pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and got probation last year.
The bill was amended to widen the scope from police and teachers to mandated reporters. The proposed tougher charging grades were also stripped and replaced with the current call for a sentencing enhancement.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed this version on March 25.
“Mandated reporters are entrusted with a legal and moral responsibility to protect our children,” D’Orsie said in an email Thursday. “When they commit a sexual offense against a minor, it constitutes a serious betrayal of that trust, thus compounding the harm.”
The measure underwent another amendment Monday before going to the full house, as the proposed updates for unlawful contact with a minor were added to it.
The proposal specifies human trafficking, incest and sexual child endangerment as crimes contributing to unlawful contact, adding them to the existing list of contributing offenses, like rape, sexual assault, prostitution and exploitation.
D’Orsie said the additions are intended to keep up with changes in the crime code, noting as an example that human trafficking wasn’t in the code when the unlawful contact with a minor section was added.
They also seek to give police and prosecutors clearer language for determining how to apply the charge.
“By adding these new offenses, we can ensure that the law stays current with evolving criminal behaviors that target minors,” he said. “In other words, the absence of these offenses in the statute creates a legal gap that offenders may exploit to target vulnerable children.”
McGhee supports adding the text of Mustello’s bill to HB 355 since it shares overall goals with what he seeks.
“It reinforces the Commonwealth’s commitment to protecting children and prosecuting those who seek to exploit them,” he said. “I applaud our lawmakers for getting behind this and doing the right thing.”
He and D’Orsie are now turning their attention to building support for the bill in the Senate.
“I will impress upon the members of the Pennsylvania senate the need to implement harsher penalties to underscore the gravity of this conduct,” D’Orsie said.
He couldn’t provide a timeline on Senate action or progress with the bill.
— Reach Aimee Ambrose at aambrose@yorkdispatch.com.
Perhaps it would be useful to add some guidance on plea deals, like not dropping charges worth more than 1/2 the appropriate prison term for all charges likely to succeed.
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