Sherrice Iverson bill passes

Monday, May 31, 1999 | 10:34 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Rather than lose the bill, the Assembly agreed Sunday to back down from its demands that the Sherrice Iverson legislation require family members report when other family members commit violent and sexual crimes against children.

Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who sponsored the bill, called it a "good first step," although he wanted a tougher bill.

"We'll see how it works and if there needs to be a change, we will be back in two years," said Perkins, a Henderson police captain.

AB267 requires a person to report to law enforcement such offenses as murder, mayhem, kidnaping, sexual assault and battery against a child 12 years and younger. Failure to disclose the incident to a law enforcement agency is a misdemeanor.

The Senate had excluded families from criminal penalties for not reporting an offense by another family member. The Assembly favored no exemption for families.

A first conference committee failed to agree to any compromise last Tuesday. The second conference committee apparently resolved the impasse by tentatively agreeing to require that the parent only has to report the crime if the other parent was guilty of the offense.

But then the agreement was revised and the Assembly adopted the Senate version of AB267.

The bill, which goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn, excludes family members from reporting if they are related to the victim or the offender. Also anyone less than 16 years old is not required to report any incident.

The report must be made as "soon as reasonably practicable' but not later than 24 hours.

The bill was nicknamed after seven-year-old Iverson who was was sexually assaulted and strangled in a women's restroom stall at a casino in Primm, Nev.

She was playing in the arcade when she was lured into the restroom by Jeremy Strohmeyer who later pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. His companion, David Cash, knew about the assault, but never reported it to authorities.

Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said there was no law that allowed him to prosecute Cash, who was roundly criticized for his failure to notify police.