Under the Capitol Dome: Legislators aim to prevent child abuse

Under the Capitol Dome: Legislators aim to prevent child abuse

“Erin’s Law” is described as a tool to keep sexual predators away from children. Four states — Maine, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri — have enacted it and a dozen more may consider it in 2013.

Rep. Tom Miles, D-Forest, and Sen. Nancy Collins, R-Tupelo, want Mississippi to be among them. They’re drafting a bill for 2013 with help from the Children’s Justice Center.

“The goal,” Miles said, “is to make Mississippi a safe place for our children.”

The law’s namesake is Erin Merryn, a 27-year-old woman from Schaumburg, Ill., who was sexually abused as a child and now campaigns for increased education to protect children from sexual predators.

Sun Herald
11/12/12