Bill Text: FL H0387 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

---

Bill Title: Child Visitation

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-03 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/SB 504 (Ch. [H0387 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0387-Comm_Sub.html

---

CS/HB 387

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to child visitation; amending s. 39.0139,
3	F.S.; revising legislative intent; requiring probable
4	cause of sexual abuse in order to create a presumption of
5	detriment; providing that persons meeting specified
6	criteria may not visit or have contact with a child
7	without a hearing and court order; revising requirements
8	for hearing seeking to rebut a presumption of detriment;
9	revising provisions relating to hearings on whether to
10	prohibit or restrict visitation or other contact with the
11	person who is alleged to have influenced a child's
12	testimony; providing an effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and subsections
17	(3), (4), and (6) of section 39.0139, Florida Statutes, are
18	amended to read:
19	39.0139  Visitation or other contact; restrictions.-
20	(2)  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.-
21	(b)  It is the intent of the Legislature to protect
22	children and reduce the risk of further harm to children who
23	have been sexually abused or exploited by a parent or other
24	caregiver by placing additional requirements on judicial
25	determinations related to contact between a parent or caregiver
26	who meets the criteria under paragraph (3)(a) and a child victim
27	in any proceeding pursuant to this chapter visitation and other
28	contact.
29	(3)  PRESUMPTION OF DETRIMENT.-
30	(a)  A rebuttable presumption of detriment to a child is
31	created when a parent or caregiver:
32	1.  A court of competent jurisdiction has found probable
33	cause exists that a parent or caregiver has sexually abused a
34	child Has been the subject of a report to the child abuse
35	hotline alleging sexual abuse of any child as defined in s.
36	39.01;
37	2.  A parent or caregiver has been found guilty of,
38	regardless of adjudication, or has entered a plea of guilty or
39	nolo contendere to, charges under the following statutes or
40	substantially similar statutes of other jurisdictions:
41	a.  Section 787.04, relating to removing minors from the
42	state or concealing minors contrary to court order;
43	b.  Section 794.011, relating to sexual battery;
44	c.  Section 798.02, relating to lewd and lascivious
45	behavior;
46	d.  Chapter 800, relating to lewdness and indecent
47	exposure;
48	e.  Section 826.04, relating to incest; or
49	f.  Chapter 827, relating to the abuse of children; or
50	3.  A court of competent jurisdiction has been determined a
51	parent or caregiver by a court to be a sexual predator as
52	defined in s. 775.21 or a parent or caregiver has received a
53	substantially similar designation under laws of another
54	jurisdiction.
55	(b)  For purposes of this subsection, "substantially
56	similar" has the same meaning as in s. 39.806(1)(d)2.
57	(c)  A person who meets any of the criteria set forth in
58	paragraph (a) may not visit or have contact with a child without
59	a hearing and order by the court.
60	(4)  HEARINGS.-A person who meets any of the criteria set
61	forth in paragraph (3)(a) who seeks to begin or resume contact
62	with the child victim shall have the right to an evidentiary
63	hearing to determine whether contact is appropriate may visit or
64	have other contact with a child only after a hearing and an
65	order by the court that allows the visitation or other contact.
66	At such a hearing:
67	(a)  Prior to the hearing, the court shall The court must
68	appoint an attorney ad litem or a guardian ad litem for the
69	child if one has not already been appointed. Any attorney ad
70	litem or guardian ad litem appointed shall have special training
71	in the dynamics of child sexual abuse.
72	(b)  At the hearing, the court may receive and rely upon
73	any relevant and material evidence submitted to the extent of
74	its probative value, including written and oral reports or
75	recommendations from the child protective team, the child's
76	therapist, the child's guardian ad litem, or the child's
77	attorney ad litem, to the extent of its probative value in its
78	effort to determine the action to be taken with regard to the
79	child, even if these reports, recommendations, and evidence may
80	not be admissible under the rules of evidence competent in an
81	adjudicatory hearing.
82	(c)  If the court finds the person proves by clear and
83	convincing evidence that the safety, well-being, and physical,
84	mental, and emotional health of the child is not endangered by
85	such visitation or other contact, the presumption in subsection
86	(3) is rebutted and the court may allow visitation or other
87	contact. The court shall enter a written order setting forth
88	findings of fact and specifying any conditions it finds
89	necessary to protect the child.
90	(d)  If the court finds the person did not rebut the
91	presumption established in subsection (3), the court shall enter
92	a written order setting forth findings of fact and prohibiting
93	or restricting visitation or other contact with the child.
94	(6)  ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.-
95	(a)  Once a rebuttable presumption of detriment has arisen
96	under subsection (3) or if visitation is ordered under
97	subsection (4) and If a party or participant, based on
98	communication with the child or other firsthand knowledge,
99	informs the court that a person is attempting to influence the
100	testimony of the child, the court shall hold a hearing within 7
101	business days to immediately suspend visitation or other
102	contact. The court shall then hold a hearing and determine
103	whether it is in the best interests of the child to prohibit or
104	restrict visitation or other contact with the person who is
105	alleged to have influenced the testimony of the child.
106	(b)  If a child is in therapy as a result of any finding of
107	the allegations or conviction convictions contained in paragraph
108	(3)(a) and the child's therapist reports that the visitation or
109	other contact is impeding the child's therapeutic progress, the
110	court shall convene a hearing within 7 business days to review
111	the terms, conditions, or appropriateness of continued
112	visitation or other contact.
113	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.