COLUMBUS — In August of 2015 2-year-old Jacob Barker was found dead after being in the care of Justin Payne of Dayton.
Payne later was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and tampering with evidence.
Jacob’s grandparents went to State Representative Rick Perales, R-Beavercreek to see if it was possible to create a state registry of violent offenders who targeted children. The Barker family said they were unaware that Payne years earlier had a previous criminal conviction with another child as his victim.
Perales introduced a proposal dubbed “Jacob’s Law” that would create that registry and like many bills in the legislature it sat in a committee without much action. Then, as the end of the session approached, the bill picked up some steam.
“This happens more you would think,” Perales said.
“As this bill started moving I got notices and mail from people from around Ohio and from adjoining states. They have a bill similar to this in Indiana. All it does is simply create a database.”
Under the plan anyone could go to their local county Sheriff’s office and check the registry. Unlike the current registry for convicted sex offenders, the list of names would not be available on the internet.
Perales says if the Barker family been able to check the registry, they would have been tipped-off immediately about Payne’s previous conviction and moved to keep Jacob away from him.
“They had concern because Jacob would get nervous whenever he would go to his house to be with this man, but they could really do anything. This would have allowed them the chance to go to the Sheriff’s office and look this guy up,” Perales said.
The biggest challenge facing the proposal is time.
The legislative session is nearly finished and there is limited time left for bills to pass.
If the bill does not pass by the end of the year, Perales will not be around the Statehouse to re-introduce it. He is moving on to his newly-elected position as Greene County Commissioner. Perales said he would push hard for passage now, but if the bill doesn’t win approval in 2020 he will make sure someone else introduces it and gets it passed in the next session of the General Assembly.
Payne remains in prison, serving a sentence of 16 years.
Cox Media Group
