Bill to prevent parental rights for rapists passes

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Mar 13 2013 09:28 am • Last Updated Mar 18 2013 11:30 am

Rapists will soon no longer be able to obtain custody or visitation rights to children they fathered through their attacks.

The Senate voted 24-0 Wednesday to pass HB152 and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.

Rep. Craig Hall, R-West Valley City, sponsored HB152 after learning about the case of Shauna Prewitt, a Missouri resident who was allegedly raped in 2004, gave birth to a daughter and was served with papers by the accused rapist seeking custody of the girl.

Hall discovered there was no law on the books to prevent that situation from happening in Utah.

Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, the Senate sponsor of the bill, said rapists could still be required by courts to pay child support, even though they would have no other parental rights.

Lee Davidson

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