Submission to parliament concerning the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2)

This bill implements the recommendations of the Law Commission in relation to the protection of children and young persons from assault, neglect, and ill treatment. This was my submission to the committee, made in an attempt to help to stop the child abuse and murder happening in my country - feel free to use it.

There have been so many children tortured and murdered by the very people who are supposed to be protecting them. Countless more suffer every day at the hands of their so-called family and guardians. This continues to happen in our country because our laws are lax, because people are afraid to get involved, because the organisations that have been put in place to help these children are failing and because our society is sick.

Please, please, please do something to help these children. If you cannot help them by revamping the procedures CYPS and other child protection agencies have in place, at least change the penalties for child abuse, child neglect and child murder.

I am asking you to make the penalties extremely severe by the simple fact that the victim is a child. Many of the killers are charged with manslaughter or injury causing death. This cannot be - this is unjust and it takes no amount of that child's suffering into account. When someone beats and tortures a child, they are responsible for a lifetime of emotional anguish from that point on and should pay for it accordingly. When someone beats a child to death, it is murder and the penalty should be to the fullest extant of the law. When someone watches it and allows it to happen - they are just as responsible and should also pay to the fullest extant of the law.

There are no excuses for the torturing and the killing of a child. There are no excuses for allowing it to continue.

Thank you for your time.