PITTSBURGH — In Pennsylvania, if someone abuses a person over 60, the penalties range from misdemeanors with potential jail time, to felonies with lengthy prison sentences.
But the same legal weight isn’t given to abusers of younger care-dependent people.
Just this summer, two caregivers were charged with punching a non-verbal child at an Allegheny County facility. Those caregivers are only facing misdemeanors with no jail time on the table.
“The punishment should fit the crime. This is something that is going to cause long-term damage to him and long-term damage to our family. We don’t even know the long-term effects it’s going to have on him,” the child’s dad told Channel 11.
Tonight at 5:30 p.m., Channel 11′s Nicole Ford speaks to other families experiencing the same frustration and shows us how one Pennsylvania lawmaker has been working for years to change the law.
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