Brown Signs Bill To Boost Response to Suspected Sexual Abuse in State’s Mental Hospitals
On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law a bill (SB 651) that requires victims of suspected sexual abuse in mental hospitals and centers for the developmentally disabled to receive immediate examinations by trained investigators at independent facilities to collect evidence. State Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) -- the bill's author -- said that the law is in response to a lapse in oversight at such facilities, where patients and residents have been sexually assaulted without any consequences for their caregivers.
- "Gov. Brown Orders Swift Response to Mental Hospital Crimes" (McGreevy, "PolitiCal," Los Angeles Times, 10/10).