(Beaver Dam) State Representative Mark Born says a likely oversight has led to legislation that would increase the penalties for not reporting a child’s death. The bill from the Beaver Dam republican and Senator John Jagler of Watertown was authored following a break in the “Baby Theresa” case.
While prosecutors where charging Karin Luttinen of Milwaukee with Concealing the Death of a Child, they noticed its statutory penalty was far weaker than similar offenses. The charge carries a prison term of one-and-a-half years, the nearly identical felony count of Hiding a Corpse has a maximum penalty of seven-and-a-half-years behind bars. Prosecutors could not charge Luttinen with Hiding a Corpse because there was insufficient evidence to support “Baby Theresa” was born alive.
Born says Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg reached out to him and Jagler to look into this issue. He says their staff began researching the history of both statutes. Born says the Hiding a Corpse statute was updated several years ago to increase its penalty and at the time, legislatures did not recognize its similarities with the Concealing the Death of a Child statute.
The bill from Born and Jagler would make Concealing the Death of a Child a class F felony, which is in line with Hiding a Corpse. During a recent appearance on Community Comment, Born said their legislation does not change the statute itself. He adds that it does not change the elements of the crime or a person’s day in court. Born says that a judge would not need to give the maximum sentence depending on the circumstances of the case, but this change would give them more options for stronger penalties if the facts merited it. He notes that both Jagler and himself believe it makes sense to have the similar charges mirror in their penalties.
Born says he expects possible action on the bill early next year. He says it is unlikely they would be able to get it to a floor period this year because the session has already wrapped up.
Karin Luttinen allegedly placed her deceased baby in a garbage bag which was discovered in Theresa nearly 13 years. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for April 18th.
