Senator Withdraws Measure Allowing Immunity To Molesters

Faced with a roomful of opposition, Sen. Grant Ipsen withdrew his bill Wednesday to give child molesters immunity if they voluntarily admit the abuse and sign a contract limiting further contact with children.

Ipsen, R-Boise, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, said his bill was designed to get child abuse reported early and voluntarily. The point, he said, was to protect the children, rehabilitate the offender and keep families together.

But the overwhelming majority of people at the standing-room-only committee hearing disagreed. When Ipsen asked everyone who opposed the bill to stand up, all but a few leaped to their feet.

The bill wouldn’t prevent offenders from molesting again, said Todd Joyner of the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

“Sex offenders are always like that. It’s just the way they’re wired,” said Joyner.

Opponents also said the bill’s language doesn’t apply only to parents. Anyone who abuses a child would be eligible to avoid prosecution.