The bill is in response to a 2014 Supreme Court case that essentially ruled in favor of a man convicted for viewing child pornography. The court decided that even though the man had clearly harmed the victim, he was only a small part of the overall harm suffered and couldn’t be responsible for paying the victim’s full damages.
That decision put the burden on victims to seek out each individual offender in order to receive full damages for their harm.
Hatch’s bill would ensure that courts take a holistic view of a victim’s losses, including medical services, therapy, rehabilitation, transportation, child care and lost income. If only one individual harmed the victim, he or she is responsible for full damages. But if more than one are involved in the crime, the defendant is either responsible for that entire amount or certain minimums depending on the severity.
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