Senator sees issues with law to put more parents on abuse list

Both the Iowa House and Senate are working on versions of the bill.

However, Sen. Randy Feenstra, of Hull, is worried that if this became a law, it might be abused.

"It's appalling to me that a parent would ever allow their child to look at this stuff, but I also understand that children do things without their parents' knowledge," Feenstra said Tuesday from Des Moines.

Unless the bill sets specifics on deeming that the parent knew the child was looking at pornography and deciding what pornography is defined as, there is a "tremendous amount of gray area," Feenstra said.

The Senate version of the bill, Senate File 271, states that a person who commits child abuse "by allowing direct or indirect access to obscene material or disseminates or exhibits such material to the child" could be subject to being added to the child abuse registry.

"I think it's a slippery slope," Feenstra said. "The problem comes in because many parents work and don't have the ability to know what their children are looking at when they're not around."

Until the specifics are added to the bill, he's against it.

"I do believe that if a parent makes a child look at this, they should be charged with abuse," Feenstra added.

A bill that addressed parents who demanded their children to view pornography would get his support, he said.

"Anything less, and it becomes difficult to legislate," Feenstra said.