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Members of the Washington House Committee on Community Safety, Justice & Reentry heard testimony Thursday in support of a bill inspired by a 2022 KING 5 investigation about a Clallam County jail guard who served just over a year in prison after sexually assaulting four women.
Three people testified in support of “Kimberly Bender’s law — named in honor of a Quileute woman who died by suicide in the Forks jail after reporting her jail guard, John Gray, sexually harassed her.
The legislation, which unanimously passed the Washington state Senate last week, would lead to more prison time for corrections and police officers who sexually abuse people in their custody. It proposes to increase the crime of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct from a Class C felony to a Class B felony. The bill would also raise the status of second-degree custodial sexual misconduct, which is currently a gross misdemeanor, to a Class C felony.
Read more: https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/washington-house-committee-kimberly-benders-law/281-374a7da3-2326-444c-9638-4535789fadc9