LA authorities tout new law forcing caretakers to report missing children

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) –

It is now a crime in Louisiana if a parent or guardian fails to report a child missing or dead within a certain amount of time.

State Rep. Barbara Norton, who authored the bill signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal, joined other ArkLaTex law enforcement officials and politicians at a news conference Monday to issue a strong warning to all parents, guardians and caretakers.

The amount of reporting time varies with the age of the child.

For kids under seven, the deadline for reporting a child believed to be in danger, missing or dead is 12 hours. For kids between seven and 13, the deadline is 24 hours. Parents or guardians have 36 hours to report on behalf of teens between the ages of 13 and 17.

“We’re talking about making sure that we’re doing everything that we can do to send a message out … to say that we will no longer allow you to take the responsibility of a child, to say ‘I’m going to make sure that chaild is safe’, and, at the end of the day, you don’t know whether that child is,” Norton said, adding that the bill was co-sponsored by the entire Louisiana House, which passed it without opposition.

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