Casey Anthony-related Bill to Move Forward in Senate

A Caylees bill will move forward in the state Senate that is tied into the summers overly sensationalistic Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando.

Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, will author a bill by the Select Committee on Protecting Floridas Children that would make it a third-degree felony for any person who provides misleading information to law enforcement during a missing child investigation where the child is later found to have been injured.

We looked at all the statutes on child protection and we did consider one area where the penalty should be a little stricter: when you are intentionally steering law enforcement in the wrong direction during their investigation, said Negron, who chairs the committee. Even if that trial never occurred, this is something law enforcement was all for.

Negron initially proposed the maximum age for a missing child in his bill at 12, but Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, swayed the committee to bump the maximum age to 16.

Currently, providing false information is a misdemeanor.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, directed the committee to consider if any changes were needed after five bills were spurred by lawmakers following the public outcry that accompanied the nationally-televised Anthony trial.

Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, but convicted of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Each guilty charge came with a one-year prison term and $1,000 fine.

Caylee Anthony was reported missing July 15, 2008. It was later determined the child, later found dead, had been missing for 30 days and during the investigation law enforcement reported Casey Anthony made a number of false statements regarding herself and the location of her daughter.

Last month, the committee heard concerns from law enforcement that declaring a specific time frame for caregivers to report a child missing to law enforcement, as proposed by a number of Caylees Law bills, could have unintended consequences.

Each bill before the Senate would make it the duty of the primary caregiver to notify law enforcement that a minor -- in two of the bills a child 12 or younger -- has been missing within 12 to 48 hours.

However, the same law enforcement officers supported increasing the penalty for providing false information.