CHARLESTON — Bargainers in the House of Delegates produced a new version Friday of Logan’s Law, one that zeroes in on sex crimes against children and retains a Senate idea to extend prison terms for convicts deemed a lingering menace if released on society.

Named after a Putnam County toddler murdered after a pattern of sexual abuse, the bill took center stage this week after Gov. Joe Manchin and Senate Republican leader Vic Sprouse openly sparred over it.

Manchin accused Sprouse of using the issue for partisan one-upmanship by leading the Senate to a 28-5 approval of his tougher bill.

In turn, the Kanawha County senator disclosed the governor had sent Senate Democrats a strongly worded memo saying they should “reclaim ownership” of sexual predator legislation for the good of the party.

At one point, Manchin warned the bill might end up costing taxpayers $167 million in prison and mental health treatment of predators.

Sprouse called that figure “bogus” and pointed to larger states where predators locked up under similar laws numbered in the low hundreds.

The House struck the stronger Senate language Sprouse inserted that essentially doubled the penalties across the board for even the mildest of offenses.

But Sprouse won a major victory when the House left in a provision known as “civil commitment,” one that lets courts decide if unrehabilitated perverts satisfying a prison term can be kept locked up out of concern they could still threaten children.

“Basically, what we’re trying to do in this bill is center in on the specific crimes that relate to children,” explained Delegate Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Two new categories of heightened penalties are included — 25 years to life for sexual assault of a child and 10 to 25 years for abuse.

“Those are pretty tough penalties,” Armstead said.

“If either of those crimes result in the death of a child, then it would be life without parole.”

Prosecutors must be furnished a file of all sexual offenses before a sentence is complete, allowing them to initiate the civil commitment option.

“They can then be declared, if the findings are there, sexual violent predators,” the delegate said.

“In that case, they would be civilly committed and evaluated each year. The other thing this bill does is include heightened requirements for registering sex offenders and heightened penalties for failure to register.”

Manchin’s measure leaned heavily on monitoring offenders via electronic devices, causing critics in the Senate to scorn it as the “ankle bracelet bill.”

One of them, Sen. Russ Weeks, R-Raleigh, was quick to remind senators in debate that the death of a Florida girl at the hands of a predator occurred in his trailer while he was on home confinement.

Armstead said the new bill was ironed out with Sprouse’s input and advice from Manchin’s legal counsel.

“The primary thing it does is center on the specific crimes that relate to children and creates a new category that catches a lot of these other crimes that may be crimes that can be against an adult or a child,” he said.

Armstead said the measure couldn’t be characterized as “weaker” than Sprouse’s bill, “but it’s different” with a specific, targeted shift on crimes against children.

Logan Goodall was a 2-year-old toddler slain last September. His death led to a public outcry for stronger laws to punish predators and put them away for longer periods.

An advocacy group, West Virginians Against Abuse, demonstrated at the Capitol this week in support of the Sprouse amendment, saying prison and treatment costs pale alongside the value of a child.

Armstead said the bill was culled from various bills in a move to give prosecutors new tools for dealing with specific crimes.

“I think it’s strong,” he said. “It will provide some pretty strong penalties for people who would prey on children. That, to me, was our goal all along.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com