Kansas mother gets law passed to protect stalking victims

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June 01, 2012|By Jim Grawe | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(WICHITA, Kan.) — On her kitchen table Kristy Beaudette displays the fruit of her work--House Bill 2613 which is now law.

"This is a very bittersweet bill," Beaudette says. "I am happy. This is something that should have been done a long time ago."

With the governor's signature this law gives Kansas judges the power to grant lifetime protection-from-abuse orders. The law got unanimous approval from state lawmakers who credit Beaudette for sharing her story and demonstrating the need.

State Senator Dick Kelsey says, "I believe this bill is a clear example of when one individual really takes on a good cause and makes something good happen."

Beaudette's eight-year-old daughter's father is set to be released from prison in two weeks. Ty Barnett has been serving six years for aggrivated battery after breaking the girl's arm when she was one month old.

Beaudette is hoping the new law will help her and her daughter and others in similar situations.

The law doesn't mean that everybody who asks for a lifetime protective order will get one. It does offer hope that, at least in some cases, victims will not have to be continually returning to court and reliving the fear and abuse of the past in hopes that a judge will grant them another year of protection.

Beaudette says it's important to help victims find some peace and put the abuse behind them.

"I will not live my life in fear," Beaudette says. "I will not let it consume me."

Now Beaudette is turning her attention to promoting other efforts to protect children from abusers. She is encouraging all parents to keep DNA samples of their children. She says fingerprints are not reliable for identifying kids under age 10. DNA sample kits are inexpensive and easy to use, and parents can keep the samples at home in their freezer.

Lifetime protection order becomes law.

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