N.H. baby death spurs Maine abuse law

KITTERY – Gov. Angus King has signed into law tough, new, child abuse reporting measures that were inspired by the death of a 21-month-old New Hampshire girl.

Kassidy Bortner of Rochester, N.H., died in November after weeks of abuse. Police say the beatings that eventually led to the girl’s death were at the hands of her mother’s live-in boyfriend.

Chad Evans of Rochester has been charged with second-degree murder. Court documents say the girl’s mother, Amanda Bortner, 19, knew of the abuse and didn’t report it.

In New Hampshire, the mandatory child abuse and neglect reporting law states that any resident who has “reason to suspect” abuse from health care and law enforcement professionals to neighbors must report those suspicions to authorities.

Not reporting is a misdemeanor. However, no New Hampshire residents who waited until after Kassidy’s death to tell of past abuse are being charged under the law.

But in Maine, where family friends frequently baby-sat the girl and may have suspected she was being abused, the former law requiring that suspicions of abuse be reported applied only to professionals, including teachers, child care personnel and police.

Those who knowingly failed to report abuse could have been slapped with a $500 civil fine, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Leighton said.

On Monday, King signed into law a measure that makes it a Class C felony for those who assume long-term responsibility for a child to fail to report abuse in cases when the child suffers serious injuries or dies.

“Obviously we’re pleased and grateful to the Legislature for recognizing the importance of passing this bill and hope it will help to protect children,” Special Assistant Attorney General Charles Dow said.

Another measure now law in Maine requires any adult with “full, intermittent or occasional responsibility for the care or custody” of an elderly or incapacitated adult or child to report suspicions of abuse.

The revised law applies to baby sitters and day care providers as well as professionals and parents regardless of whether the individual is being paid for their services.

“One of the reasons these cases are so difficult is the code of silence we encounter in the prosecution,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese wrote in support of the measure.

“Child abuse or child endangerment generally does not occur in isolation,” she said. “Usually there is one individual inflicting the bodily injury while the other parent or adult member of the household enables this conduct through his or her omission and silence.”

Evans is free on bail pending his trial in November.