Last year, a young man molested and finally killed a seven-year-old little girl in a Las Vegas casino's mensroom. His buddy knew what was going on but did nothing to stop the crime or assist the little girl. Later, the buddy drove the killer home to California. The perpetrator was prosecuted but his friend could not be charged under existing laws. Laws dealing with the "accessory to a crime" did not apply if a bystander did not assist the perpetrator in the crime or benefit from it.

We were appalled to learn that a similar scenario could play out here in Alaska. It would be perfectly legal to not help the child or even to not call someone who could help. Last session, we did some research on the concept of a "citizen's duty to assist another." Apparently under English Common Law there was a widely understood duty to help another person in distress, especially a helpless person or child. This duty was known as “Misprison “ a neglect of a public duty. As our nation has moved away from common law and toward Statute Law, the duty to assist another has gotten lost.

To fix this discrepancy, we introduced a bill to make it a crime to witness a child being raped, murdered, or seriously assaulted and not assist the child or call someone who can help. A few legislators worried that someone might be afraid to assist the child. We added a provision that removed the duty to help if the “would be” helper were in fear of their own life. Attorneys from the state department of Justice worried that this new law might make some witnesses reluctant to testify for fear of their own prosecution. We decided that prosecuting attorneys and judges could handle this problem with immunity and fifth amendment protections.

In the intensity of the discussion, to illustrate and emphasize the intent of the bill, we passed out toy whistles to the Judiciary Committee members. We told them, "If you are unable or unwilling to help the kid who is being assaulted, at least BLOW THE WHISTLE or go find someone who can help."

During the final days of session, our legislature passed this bill with only 2 dissenting votes, perhaps the first Misprision of a Child bill in the nation. Governor Knowles signed it into law on June 22 of this year. The new law makes it a Class "A" Misdemeanor to not assist or call for assistance if a child is being murdered, raped, kidnapped, or seriously assaulted.

I believe that in our culture "the Law is a great teacher," and our laws are one way that a society states its collective values. We hoped this bill would send a message to the people of our state that simply watching a child being assaulted, is not up to our standards of acceptable behavior. I, personally, thought the new law would be seldom needed or used. Unfortunately it could have been used sooner.

Just last month, a 14 year-old girl was reportedly raped and sodomized by four or five men while a crowd of other young men watched and, perhaps, cheered. This happened in our town, not New York or Las Vegas! We immediately called the prosecuting attorney office to make sure they were aware of the new law. It turns out that they had already followed the same path hoping to be able to use this law to prosecute the assault spectators. Alas, the bill did not take effect until September 20, 1999, 90 days after the Governor signed it, just days after the indecency was committed. The cruel, callused, voyeurs, who failed in their duty to another human being by not helping the girl or calling the police, escaped a possible year in jail and a $5,000 fine they could have received under this law. Their prosecution would have certainly brought attention to our civic duty to others in distress and perhaps have been a wake up call for these “spectators”.

I hope this tragedy will cause many citizens, parents, teachers, and community leaders to discuss the responsibilities that go with citizenship in our country and our clear duty to assist another human that is being assaulted. I certainly hope that another child does not have to go through a vicious assault and a traumatic trial before we adults learn to help a kid who needs us.

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