SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin Franke's family, including two of his children who were victims in one of Utah's most high-profile abuse cases, are criticizing lawmakers who voted down a bill on child welfare investigations.
"I think Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt would be absolutely thrilled with our state legislature yesterday," Kevin Franke told FOX 13 News on Thursday, referring to his ex-wife and fellow YouTuber convicted of abuse. "Because essentially the legislature voted to protect their rights and what they felt was their right to abuse children over the protection of the children."
He is angry that Senate Bill 124 failed in the House of Representatives on a 30-43 vote. The bill, nicknamed the "Gavin Peterson Bill," after the death of Gavin Peterson in a child abuse case in Weber County, seeks to close a loophole when children disappear. There are limits to the powers of police and child welfare caseworkers to inquire about what is happening with them. So SB124 seeks to allow a court to issue an "investigative warrant" to check on a child.
"We need this bill because we have deficiencies in our child welfare laws," Kevin Franke said.
It received support through most of the legislative session, but lawmakers in that chamber raised concerns about parental rights, government overreach and the Fourth Amendment.
"This is a very critical bill," said Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, the sponsor of the bill. "We can’t afford as a state to have that loophole and this is a tool that’s used in 40 other states. The fact that we can’t have eyes on kids when they’re isolated is why we have cases like the Gavin Peterson case."
Sen. Escamilla said she is trying to see if she can bring the bill back for another vote in the final days of the legislative session.
One of the children victimized in the case, sent FOX 13 News a statement expressing his frustration with the vote on SB124.
"I don’t know why this bill didn’t get passed. I find it shocking that legislators would find it better for kids in an abusive situation to have to fend for themselves and try to escape. This is exactly what I had to do," he said. "I realized that I had to get out of my abusive situation with my mom. I wish I didn’t need to put my life on the line in order to accomplish this. It would have saved a lot of physical and mental pain for me and my sister. And sure this bill wasn’t even an idea at the time of this event. But for kids in the future, this bill could save them if it got passed."
Kevin Franke said he and others are now pushing for people to call lawmakers and demand SB124 get another vote.
