‘Destruction of a child’s soul’: Advocates testify on spike of child torture cases

SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers are considering a new child torture bill that seeks to enhance criminal penalties in extreme cases of child abuse.

Wednesday, lawmakers heard from bill advocates Eric Clarke, Washington County attorney, and Dr. Toni Laskey, medical director of the Utah Children’s Justice Centers.

The bill would criminalize child torture as a first-degree felony and raise the minimum sentence to 10 years in prison. Currently, an aggravated child abuse charge is a second-degree felony and carries a punishment of 1 to 15 years in prison.

“This bill is pretty simple. It makes child torture a stand-alone crime that is a first-degree felony,” Clarke said. “Frankly, all of us that have been working on this would be open to a longer (than 10 year) minimum mandatory.”

During a presentation to the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee, Laskey argued that child torture is different from other forms of abuse.

“When I evaluate these cases, the overlap with written descriptions of torture from war-torn areas of our world throughout time is striking. The difference between a war crime and the victims I see (is that) these victims are children,” Laskey told lawmakers.

Laskey testified that she has seen an unexplained increase in cases of extreme child abuse since the pandemic.

“I have seen all types of abuse inflicted on children (in my career),” Laskey said. “However, in the last several years I have seen a darker more depraved type of abuse.”

Laskey described child torture cases as different and more extreme from incidents of child abuse. In child torture cases, Laskey said there is systematic and prolonged physical and psychological abuse and isolation of a child.

“The question often raised is ‘isn’t this just a severe form of physical abuse?’ Absolutely not. These are cases that involve confinement, sometimes with ropes, chains or handcuffs. Sometimes in closets or crawl spaces. It often involves the restriction of access to toilets, requiring the child to wear a diaper or use a bucket,” Laskey said. “It frequently involves malnutrition through severe food restriction or giving the child inedible food such as dog food.”

Since 2022, Laskey said she and her colleagues have been involved in the evaluation of at least 12 cases of severe child torture.

High-profile cases including Franke and Hildebrandt, Gavin Peterson, Angelina Costello and the recent incident of a child found in a make-shift cell in Kearns fit the description of prolonged harm, starvation and isolation, which Laskey said is often documented by the abusers themselves as found in the cases of Gavin Peterson and Angelina Costello.

“Perpetrators frequently photo or video document these crimes,” Laskey told lawmakers. “The thing that goes along with this is the extreme psychological abuse.”

Laskey isn’t sure what is driving the trend.

“All of a sudden, we’re all starting to see these, so colleagues nationally are having nearly identical cases and we can’t understand what has changed, what is different,” Laskey said. “There’s a really strong need for research in that area. Because if we don’t understand what is happening, we can’t prevent it from happening.”

There’s a really strong need for research in that area. Because if we don’t understand what is happening, we can’t prevent it from happening.

–Dr. Toni Laskey, Utah Children’s Justice Centers

Clarke and Laskey acknowledged the proposed legislation doesn’t get to the root of the issue, but Clarke argued it attempts to elevate the punishment to the level of the crime.

“About a year ago, I worked on my first child torture prosecution. I was shocked when I realized that our current (sentencing guideline) system recommends that first-time offenders who commit child torture are incarcerated for zero days. Someone must have a lengthy criminal history before any prison is recommended for this crime,” Clarke said. “The system’s recommendation is so low that we are fighting an uphill battle in order to put child torturers behind bars.”

“The issue is that the type of abuse that this is, is so comprehensive and so destructive to a child’s soul,” Laskey said.

A few legislators expressed concerns over some of the wording and language used in the bill, specifically when it comes to the definition of psychological harm as a component of child abuse.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George. Lawmakers voted 14 to 1 in support of the bill with the understanding that the draft needs more work.