Serino explains her proposed law
POUGHKEEPSIE – State Senator Sue Serino announced the introduction
of “Bailey’s Law” at a gathering in Poughkeepsie on Monday.
The legislation sponsored by Serino would hold criminals that prey on
disabled or vulnerable elderly persons who attempt or commit suicide accountable
if their actions are found to have significantly contributed to the suicide,
as it did in the case of Bailey Bates, a 19-year-old autistic man who
committed suicide in July of 2017.
According to Bates’ mother, Gae Marie Cannon, Bailey was preyed upon and
taken advantage of by a girl he knew for years and who had recently befriended
him.
The girl connected her male friend to Bates under the guise of helping
them cash a check. Bailey provided them with his bank card and his PIN
number. On July 24, 2017 the male, later identified as Joel Thompson,
deposited a $1675 fraudulent check at an ATM in Highland and then immediately
withdrew $200.
When Cannon noticed the transaction on the bank statement, she contacted
the New York State Police and filed a complaint. On July 31, investigators
visited Bailey at home and asked if he could identify the male on the
ATM surveillance footage. He could not.
According to Cannon her son could not comprehend that he was a victim
of a crime.
Five hours after the investigators spoke with Bates, he committed suicide.
In a note he left, he indicated that he was very upset because he believed
he had done something wrong.
Cannon has a petition to support the bill’s passage on change.org that
has over 7,000 signatures to date.
“I know first-hand how traumatic the experience can be said Serino,
who has lost a relative to suicide. “We have a duty to ensure that
prosecutors have the tools they need to properly hold these despicable
perpetrators and those like them accountable.”
The legislation seeks to change the current law by providing that a person
may be charged with promoting a suicide or manslaughter if he or she is
convicted of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, an
incompetent or physically disabled person and the conduct was the proximate
cause of the victim’s suicide.
Currently, despite evidence that perpetrators knowingly took advantage
of his vulnerability, the two accused only stand to be charged with minimal
counts of endangerment and grand larceny and will not be held accountable
for their role in the teen’s death.
Of the legislation the teen’s mom said “I have some sense of relief
in being heard and am extremely grateful that Senator Serino recognizes
this gap in the law is unacceptable and that we must do more to deter
crimes against dependent citizens.”
Serino is actively seeking a sponsor for the bill in the Assembly.
