ROCK HILL, SC (WBTV/AP)
- Legislators are discussing a bill that would make it illegal for convicted
sex offenders to serve as foster parents in South Carolina.
Current law prohibits
children from being placed in foster care with people who have a history of
child abuse or have been convicted of certain crimes like criminal domestic
violence.
The House Judiciary
Committee on Tuesday is taking up the bill that would add sex offenders to that
list.
The proposal would also
bar courts from awarding custody to parents who are convicted sex offenders.
The list of rules and
regulations for adopting or fostering children goes on and on.
There are rules
excluding child abusers, domestic abusers, felony drug users- all the things
you would call "common sense." But there's one thing missing, Sexual offender,
or a person who appears on the sexual offender registry.
Dale Dove is an adoption
attorney in Rock Hill, he spent the day looking at House Bill 4473.
"This list must have
predated the sexual offender registry," said Dove.
Today in Columbia a judiciary
committee discussed the bill on amending the list of who can be excluded from
foster care… and to add registered sex offenders to that list.
Dove agrees with the
addition but Dove sees a potential problem in parent custody battles with one
portion of the amendment.
"It states, a court must
consider and may not grant custody of a minor child to a parent, who is
required to register as a sex offender," said Dove. "A parent that had
something way back in their history that a court would not have the leeway to
make a judgment call saying you can't have custody because your name appeared
on the sexual offender registry. And once it's on there it never comes off."
Dove says because of all
the back ground checks someone has to go though to qualify to be a foster
parent it's unlikely that a registered sex offender would slip through…
"It does seem to be in
keeping with the other types of crimes are already exclude someone from being a
foster parent," said Dove.
If the amendment passes
the Judiciary committee it will then have to be passed by the house and senate
and the Governor's office.
Copyright 2012 WBTV/AP. All rights reserved.
