Governor Bentley Meets with Leadership from the Governor’s Task Force on Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children to Discuss Recommendations

MONTGOMERY – Governor Robert Bentley on Wednesday met with leadership from the Governor’s Task Force on Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children to discuss the task force’s recommendations.

The 13 member task force was established following the passage of Erin’s Law in the 2015 Regular Session. State Rep. Terri Collins (R-DECATUR) served as Chairman of the task force. Alabama was the 25th state to sign this legislation into law.  Erin’s law was named after Illinois native, Erin Merryn, who was molested and raped for more than six years.  The first meeting of the task force was held in September, and recommendations were finalized and submitted at the end of December.

“Protecting Alabama’s children is critical and I want to ensure the state is properly educating students and teachers on how to recognize this despicable crime and report it,” Governor Robert Bentley said. “The Governor’s Task Force on Sexual Abuse of Children worked hard over the last several months to provide guidelines for child sexual abuse prevention instructional programs in public schools. I appreciate the hard work of the task force members and Representative Terri Collins for being a strong advocate for protecting children.”

The task force provided several recommendations for the Governor’s consideration. Governor Bentley will review each recommendation in the report and determine the best practices moving forward.

A link to the report of recommendations can be found here.