Stemming from a case in Michigan’s Thumb region in which a judge granted joint custody to a sex offender, a bill has been introduced in Lansing to help protect welfare recipients from having to provide paternity information in cases involving rape. A sponsor is state SEnator Steve Bieda of Warren, who spoke with Michigan News Network about the plan.
“We need to have a pretty strong sense of justice in this state, and re-victimizing somebody that’s been the victim of a rape is not the way to go,” Bieda said. “This legislation is a common sense way to take care of that kind of thing in the future, and we will be looking at other things.”
Bieda says current law requires a parent seeking public assistance to reveal the biological father of the child. The rule recently led to a convicted rapist receiving partial custody of a child conceived through that rape.
