Ed Lewis – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

House panel asked to stem ‘medical kidnappings’ by the state

A House committee has been presented with stories of a parent’s nightmare: children being taken by the state based on false suspicions of parental abuse. Legislators are being asked to address the issue, but finding a balance is difficult when the safety of children is at stake.

*Representatives Jamie Gragg and Holly Jones (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)*

The stories shared some similarities. Parents take a child to a doctor for care for a broken bone. A medical professional suspects the parent of abuse and contacts the state. The state takes the child and its siblings from the parents.

Months or more go by. Eventually, a medical diagnosis reveals an explanation for the broken bones that doesn’t involve abuse. After many frustrating circumstances, much heartache, and the passage of a lot of time, parents and children are reunited, but there are no apologies and much, much damage has been done.

“The bigger picture, again, is: we don’t have any rights at all, as soon as anybody says, ‘This is abuse,’” Rebecca Wanosik told the House Committee on Children and Families.

Wanosik was one of those who shared her ordeal with the Committee, as was Tessa Gorzik.

Gorzik said, “It’s not a one-time thing and you’re done, whether you are convicted of it or not, or accused of it or not. It’s ‘you’re guilty’ from day one and you have to fight your whole entire life to get those allegations overturned when there should have never been allegations from the get-go if they had done their job appropriately from the get-go.”

This is what Representatives Holly Jones (R-Eureka) and Jamie Gragg (R-Ozark) are trying to address with House Bills 2690 and 2691. They are proposing that when a child is placed into 24-hour protective custody due to suspicion of child abuse, custody cannot be extended if a parent or other authorized guardian presents proof that contradicts the allegation of abuse.

Jones said it would allow a parent to present a second opinion.

“There are children that have never been diagnosed [with diseases that can cause injuries that resemble abuse], so there’s no proof to be had, as of yet. That’s the spirit of the bill, is to be able to offer parents an option when some of these medical conditions could be happening and they’re being accused of child abuse when no such abuse is occurring.”

Wanosik said such provisions would have saved her a great deal of pain.

She said five of her children were taken from her in 2015 when the youngest, then nine weeks old, was found during a doctor visit to have three rib fractures and an arm fracture. She said her family was denied second opinions and denied access to her child’s medical records.

While her children were in state custody, the infant developed more fractures. Rather than see this as a possible sign that the parents weren’t responsible, the state said the parents could have caused these new fractures during visits, despite those visits being supervised.

Eventually, a medical diagnosis revealed another explanation for the injuries, but the allegations did not go away.

“They ruled by a preponderance of evidence that my baby was clearly a victim of child abuse and neglect but they couldn’t pin a perpetrator, and then they gave me my children back,” said Wanosik. “It’s very common, actually, because you’re not held to the same standard [of] the criminal court and there was never enough evidence for us to be criminally charged,” so they just kept running us through the family court system.”

Now, Wanosik is the Treasurer for a group called Fractured Families, a group that advocates for situations like hers.

“I wholeheartedly believe that [HBs] 2690 and 2691 are going to open up the gateway to at least provide protection for families in the fact that we [could, if it passed,] access the child, the [medical] records.”

The Committee’s members responded favorably to the proposals but expressed concern that the language needs to be refined.

Ferguson Representative Raychel Proudie (D) said it’s unclear to whom any kind of proof of a medical condition would need to be presented.

“You’re at my house, I’m about to go to jail, you’re about to take my kids, I have the proof, who do I show? Do I show the police? The nurse? It’s the weekend. It’s a Saturday. Court’s closed. My kid has been in your possession now for over 24 hours and I don’t know to whom I am showing this proof. How do we remedy that?”

The Missouri Network Against Child Abuse (formerly Missouri KidsFirst), an entity respected by many lawmakers when considering child abuse legislation, spoke in opposition to the bills. Its Executive Director, Jessica Seitz, said the bills focus on one piece of an abuse allegation.

“In the overall investigation of an allegation of abuse, the medical opinion is not the arbiter, the decider of the outcome. It is one part of the investigation.”

Further, Seitz said the “proof” the bill centers on is not defined, calling the language, “vague and problematic, and being unspecified puts us at risk of a child being left in an unsafe situation.”

Seitz challenged the premise of the bill, that there is a need for a state law to allow parents to get a second opinion when they are being investigated for child abuse.

“A second opinion is always welcome in the court process, but just introducing a second opinion as a part of the overall investigation … should not short circuit the process and mandate the outcome, introducing one factor in the overall investigation. We risk putting our kids in danger.”

However, Seitz emphasized respect for the efforts of Jones and Gragg, saying she wants to work with them to improve the system.

Jones said she remains adamant that something must change, because the damage done to children and their families when the state takes children away is long-lasting and runs deep.

“That’s one of the reasons why we’re trying to move forward with this bill so quickly, is that our foster care system is not only so overrun and it’s such a huge part of the children and families organization throughout the state, this is really going to cut back on the mental health issues and the trauma to families,” Jones said.

Committee member Ed Lewis (R-Moberly) acknowledged Seitz’s concerns but told her, “We are going to move forward with this bill, if I have anything to say about it, but you need to be a part of the picture. Your organization needs to be a part of the picture because if you’re not, it’s not going to be the balanced, thread-the-needle approach that has to happen so that we both protect those children who are actually being abused and … I would say [just] as important, [is] protecting those families and those parents and those children who aren’t being abused but get caught up in the system.”

Gragg echoed Lewis’ sentiment, telling the committee he knew addressing this issue would be challenging.

“There’s a very fine line that we’re trying to close the gap on, from protecting the kids that need protecting … and also not taking advantage, or overstepping, with those [cases of children with parents] that are falsely accused of something. We’re trying to narrow that gap, and the problem with that narrow line, that fine line, is it ain’t straight. That is for sure.”

House approves multi-pronged human trafficking legislation

The state House has approved a comprehensive plan for combatting human trafficking in Missouri. The bill brings together the efforts of several lawmakers, and its sponsor says it is just his opening volley.

*Representative Jeff Myers (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Representative Jeff Myers (R-Warrenton) told colleagues that the state has got to think of human trafficking in terms broader than those by how it is defined. He said it goes beyond, “using fraud, force, or coercion to exploit a person for labor, services, or commercial sex.”

A partial list of its other forms includes, “Escort services; illicit massage, health, and beauty; outdoor solicitation; residential sex trafficking; domestic work; bars; strip clubs; cantinas; pornography; traveling sales crews; restaurants and food services; peddling and begging; agricultural, personal sexual servitude; and health and beauty services, and that’s just the top half, but most of those involve one aspect of sex trafficking and/or labor and sex trafficking.”

Myers, a retired Highway Patrolman, said he launched the effort that became House Bills 1706 & 1539 at the end of the 2023 legislative session.

“Last session when I walked out of here I reached out to contacts that I’d made when I was on the Patrol, law enforcement, and also others I’d met during last session and I asked them once simple question: what are some of the thing that you think will help stop this … what will start to make a dent? And the result is this piece of legislation that I’m presenting now.”

His legislation would require regular training in sex trafficking for EMTs, paramedics, nurses, prosecuting attorneys, juvenile officers, social workers, and law enforcement officers. The bill would establish, “a steering and vetting committee to make sure that this training is tailored and effective, and adapts over time.”

Myers said the training this bill would require is vitally important, as it reflects a recent and important shift in attitudes throughout the country about how first responders should interact with sex workers.

“After having some training on that, there’s a paradigm shift that occurs. Me, as a law enforcement officer, when I contact somebody who’s a potential victim of this, instead of treating her like a criminal, it’s a victim. I’m now offering, extending, ‘Hey, I can be of assistance. I can be an outlet. If there’s anything that you need or if you’re looking to get out of this lifestyle, I can help you,’ and that’s a bit of a paradigm shift that what law enforcement used to do with prostitution.”

First responders and medical personnel are often the first people trafficking victims have a chance to talk to after becoming victims, who aren’t exploiting them and who might offer them a chance for escape, but by the time of that interaction victims are often already too traumatized or brainwashed to ask for help. Myers said this training, in part, focuses on recognizing a victim and how to offer help without further endangering them.

“Eighty-five percent of the people that are recovered … the folks that were recovered, rescued out of that … came in contact with one or more of those professions on a regular basis. Juvenile officers; nurses, especially; and social workers get disclosures from people being trafficked. The part that’s in there for the training, what that does is allow for a digital format to be pushed out and distributed that gives folks awareness training, but not only that, the skills to handle that,” Myers said.

The provision in this legislation that is the most personal for Representative Jeff Coleman (R-Grain Valley) is one he has sponsored for the past two years.

*Representative Jeff Coleman (Photo: Missouri House Communications)*

It would allow courts to enter into evidence recordings of statements made by a victim of trafficking or sex crimes up to the age of 18, an increase from the age of 14 in current law. Allowing these recorded statements spares victims from another occasion having to relive their experience, this one in a courtroom in front of their abuser.

In the year since Coleman first offered that bill, it took on new meaning for him.

“It became extremely personal to me because I had an unfortunate position where my daughter got molested by my son-in-law. Not his wife, but my youngest daughter; his sister-in-law.”

The intent of Coleman’s bill was always to spare victims, who already have to revisit the trauma of what they’ve been through multiple times as a case goes through the courts. Now he has a much deeper understanding of what they face.

“The first thing my 15-year-old daughter had to do was go to the hospital and get a rape test. She was there for eight hours getting probed and … all kinds of things that I won’t even tell you, eight hours. The next thing, she had to do a forensic interview, and that took another three hours … so she’s reliving it every time that she has to go do something,” Coleman said. “Then she had to talk to the prosecutor’s office and that was another hour-and-a-half interview, that she had to explain all over again, what happened.”

Coleman implored his colleagues, who approved this provision last year 149-2, to vote for it again this year on behalf of people like his daughter.

“I appreciate the votes that we got last year on this House floor, and I would just ask that you would once again please understand that these victims are victimized over and over and over again until this thing goes away … it’s a long process.”

The bill would also build on an effort that began in 2022, with legislation carried by Moberly representative Ed Lewis (R). It created The Statewide Council on Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Its goals included making sure that the state understands how big of a problem trafficking in Missouri is, and looking for ways to combat it.

“Three years ago when I asked [The Department of Social Services] how many people were being trafficked, they couldn’t give me a number; how many have you had that were in foster care that were being trafficked, and they couldn’t give me a number. So, we made some structural changes there, with creating a position inside the DSS, got the funding for that and got that put into place,” Lewis said.

*Representative Ed Lewis (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

HBs 1706 & 1539 seeks to extend that effort by creating the “Statewide Council against Adult Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” which will be very similar to the Statewide Council (for/on) Minor Sex Trafficking, except that it will fall under the authority of the Attorney General’s Office.

“I think that will help because [the Attorney General] will coordinate between all of these organizations, bring it all together to make sure that we have a robust response from the State of Missouri against minor sex trafficking,” said Lewis.

The legislation would increase from 15 to 17 the age a victim must be in order for an abuser to be charged with enticement of a child.

It would also would establish restitution to be paid by those guilty of trafficking and sex crimes as specified by the bill, in the amount of $10,000 in restitution per identified victim and $2,500 for each county in which an offense or offenses occurred.

That restitution would to go support local rehabilitation services for victims including mental health and substance abuse counseling; education; housing relief; parenting education; vocational training. It would also back local efforts to prevent trafficking, including education efforts and efforts to expand law enforcement efforts targeting trafficking.

“This is a highly lucrative business … and people are the commodity, and when the trafficker’s done, they discard the person, whether it’s to overdose or whatever. That’s why the restitution piece of this bill provides money for psychological counseling, medical care, job training, housing, so they can get back up on their feet and get back into the community,” Myers said.

HBs 1706 & 1539 passed out of the House 143-1 after several legislators expressed, passionately, how badly they want to see Missouri combat trafficking.

Rogersville Representative Darrin Chappell (R) said in his time as a city administrator in Chillicothe, Bolivar, and Seymour, this issue caused him more stress than any other.

“It was those children who I knew were suffering, but they lived just outside our jurisdiction. They would come to our schools, we would know what was going on in their homes, we saw the horror stories being played out in our lives, and because they were outside of our jurisdiction there was nothing we could do,” Chappell said. “I believe with all my heart we need to protect our citizens from this absolute travesty that we see in our society today, known as human trafficking, and I encourage everybody to support this bill with me today.”

While this legislation is on its way to the Senate, Myers is already thinking about his next effort.

“This was an issue that, when I was in my previous career, I found out [about this] later on, and it became a passion, to do something about, so this is the first installment.”

Legislative package addresses domestic violence, trafficking

Missouri legislators passed a package of measures intended to protect victims of sexual and domestic violence and trafficking before the 2022 regular session drew to a close on May 13. Senate Bill 775 contained language sponsored by several House members, and now awaits action by Governor Mike Parson (R).

*Representative Hannah Kelly (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

“It’s our big legislative win for this session,” said Jennifer Carter Dochler, who was the legislative liaison for the Missouri Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence during the regular session.

The bill was handled in the House by Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove), who was glad to see it reach the governor’s desk despite issues in the legislature that created challenges for all legislation this year.

“At the end of the day the process that our founding fathers set out caused it to be that we were able to come together and accomplish something good despite our differences and that is a beautiful thing that everybody needs to walk away remembering should always be our highest priority. You’re not going to find a better [issue] to do it on than this.”

Kelly said of particular importance to her, personally, in SB 775 is the language that establishes the “Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights.” This seeks to make sure victims know their rights regarding the gathering of evidence and related medical exams; access to incident reports; and protections from intimidation and harassment by an attacker.

Kelly said someone important in her life is a victim of rape and, “The provisions in this bill, I believe, would’ve brought justice for this person in a swifter manner.”

The Bill of Rights portion is meant to, among other things, give some clarity and guidance to victims, who often find themselves traumatized and with no knowledge of what to do or to whom to turn.

“All [that a victim knows] is a really horrible thing has happened that nobody ever dreams will happen to them,” said Kelly. “The heart and soul of it is protecting victims and providing stronger protections and providing education … and what greater cause to unite behind than educating and empowering victims in these horrible situations to know what their rights are and to know the pathway by which they can appropriately seek justice.”

SB 775 also clarifies definitions in Missouri law regarding “sexual contact” and “sexual conduct.” Representative David Evans (R-West Plains) said he dealt with at least one case, during his 28 years as a judge, in which unclear definitions regarding contact with minor victims hindered prosecution.

“Taking ambiguous law or badly written law and making it clear is important clearly for the victims of crime but also clarifies, which is required in criminal law, exactly what the crime is,” said Evans. “None of us can be convicted of a crime that’s ambiguous. That’s protection under due process … it’s good to have specific law especially when you’re dealing with a very serious felony.”

*Representative David Evans (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

SB 775 would specify that no persons younger than 18 will be prosecuted for prostitution, and if located by law enforcement while engaged in commercial sexual acts, they will be considered a victim of abuse and referred to the Children’s Division and juvenile officers to receive help. It also eliminates the requirement that a person under 18 and charged with prostitution must prove they were coerced to avoid conviction.

These were provisions found in legislation sponsored by Representative Ed Lewis (R-Moberly), who said the laws regarding these individuals needs to be focused on getting them help.

“A lot of times a minor can be in that lifestyle and not even know that they’re being trafficked, not even know that they’re being abused. They think, ‘Well no, I’m doing this of my own free will,’ but they’re not. They’re being abused and used by some adult for their own gain, and we have to get them the help they need to help them to understand that this is not right,” said Lewis. “Instead of looking at these people who have come to rescue them as rescuers they can look at them as the enemy and we have to make sure that they get the help that they need so they understand what their outcome should be and how to get back to what we would call a normal life free of abuse.”

Other related sections deal with prosecuting those who attempted to engage in sexual acts or pornography-related offenses with individuals under 18.

The bill also contains language sponsored by Representative Lane Roberts (R-Joplin) dealing with orders of protection. It would state that a person with an order of protection against them cannot skip a court date regarding that order and then plead ignorance to knowing it was still in effect. He and Carter Dochler say this defense has often been successful for abusers who would violate an order and then say they didn’t know it was in place because they didn’t attend a hearing.

Roberts has often said that this and other proposals he has filed stem from his time in law enforcement – including as Joplin’s police chief and the director of the Department of Public Safety – and times in his career when he couldn’t help a victim because of how the law was written.

“Sometimes the law doesn’t serve the victim and sometimes, frankly, the process to provide due process to the person that’s accused ultimately re-victimizes the victim, so it’s been very frustrating to me throughout my [law enforcement] career. Now I’m in a position to do something about it.”

Along that same line, Roberts said a provision in SB 775 that is important to him is one that allows victims to testify via video rather than have to appear in court for a domestic violence proceeding.

*Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Roberts says too often, a victim is afraid to proceed with prosecution for fear or retribution by their abuser. This provision addresses that fear; specifically that requiring a victim to appear in court creates an instance in which their abuser will know where and when to find them.

“If you read the newspapers you will frequently see where a domestic violence case was dismissed because the victim didn’t show up to testify. I can’t tell you how many times that’s because they were afraid to show up but I guarantee you it’s a significant part of the number of people who don’t show up, and why.”

With all these issues, legislators have to craft language that protects victims but also allows for due process for those who are accused. Evans believes with SB 775, Missouri gets closer to finding the right balance between those considerations, “and again that’s one thing I really enjoy doing, is balancing the rights of those that are charged but making it absolutely clear to protect the victims of the crimes as well. I think we’re getting there.”

The House vote that sent SB 775 to the governor was 141-0. Carter Dochler said the Coalition is, “very grateful and really excited [that] at a time where there has been so much turbulence on different issues that everybody could really come together and find agreement on items that would make things better for victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, or some other related judicial proceedings.”

SB 775 includes several other provisions, including those that would make it a crime for any coach of minors to abuse a minor, whereas currently law speaks only to high school coaches; extends protections against the release of a victim’s personal information to include their personal email address, birth date, health status, or any information from a forensic testing report; and further restricts when the prior sexual conduct of a witness or victim in a sexual offense case may be inquired about in a legal proceeding.