Rachel Kurzius
Photo by Kim Veis.
It took more than two weeks from when eight-year-old Relisha Rudd was last seen before a school social worker reported her missing, and now a new law would make it a misdemeanor for parents to legal guardians to fail to inform law enforcement that a minor is missing.
Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May and Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans co-introduced the “Relisha Rudd Law” at the D.C. Council yesterday.
Under the legislation, people with custody of minors under the age of 13 have 24 hours to alert law enforcement, or they will misdemeanor charges. For those with minors over the age of 13, they would have 48 hours to report their disappearance. The law would also be a misdemeanor for parents to “provide false information to law enforcement with the intent to mislead the investigation.”
For those with mandated reporting requirements, like teachers and social workers, it would be a misdemeanor to fail to report missing a minor who suffers from a handicap, has a disappearance of a suspicious nature, may have been abducted, or was previously the subject of an abduction.
The legislation calls for the mayor to establish penalties.
May’s office says she was inspired by a Change.org petition from citizen activist Rebecca Taylor, which garnered more than 2,000 signatures. “Relisha’s disappearance is tragic and perhaps if she were reported missing sooner, she would have been found,” the petition reads. The petition calls for making a failure to report a felony, which the current legislation does not do.
May’s legislative director, Michael Austin, says the bill is a blended model of similar legislation in California, Maryland, and Maine, also known unofficially as Caylee’s Law, after the Floridian toddler who was not reported missing for a month.
He says it was important to create a balance with the legislation. “One thing Councilmember May was afraid of was that it would only affect black families and people in Wards 7 and 8,” says Austin. “They’re not really going to enforce this in Ward 3, where there’s less police presence. We really tried to narrow it so we weren’t pulling kids from their families. We’re trying to find ways to help the children, but we’re not trying to put mothers behind bars.”
The legislation, co-sponsored by At-Large Councilmembers Vincent Orange and Anita Bonds and Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd, was sent to the Judiciary Committee.
LaToya Foster, a spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser, says that “we are currently reviewing the legislation, but continue to support policies that move to protect children.”
This morning, D.C. Police began searching the National Arboretum for Relisha Rudd.
Correction: This legislation is co-sponsored by CM Vincent Orange.
