The Delaware Attorney General's office is seeking tougher penalties against child abusers. (Photo: WBOC)DOVER, Del.- More than 3 million children suffer abuse and neglect each year.
The Delaware Attorney General's office prosecutes child abuse, but abusers often get a lesser punishment than what many people believe they deserve. Currently, crimes against children are often weighted the same as crimes against adults.
Senate Bill 243 will hopefully change the law and bring stiffer penalties for those who abuse children.
Patricia Dailey Lewis with the Attorney General's office has seen a range of horror when it comes to child abuse.
"We had a case recently where someone carved into the side of an infant, we have cigarette burns, we have broken bones, we have fractured skulls," she said.
Senate Bill 243 will make it tougher on those who hurt children, especially young children. Physically hurting a child under the age of 4 and/or a child with developmental disabilities will be a felony.
