'She was murdered': NC leaders to file bill after 8-year-old girl dies of suspected abuse
State leaders have proposed a new law after WRAL Investigates looked into the suspected case of deadly child abuse of Christal Lane in Nash County.
Sponsors of the bill say Christal’s Law would look to give the state more power to protect children in harm’s way before it’s too late.
Lane was an 8 -year-old girl living in Nash County with her grandmother, Patricia Ricks.
On Feb. 7, investigators with the Nash County Sheriff’s Office said Ricks beat Lane to death, charging the grandmother with first-degree murder.
WRAL Investigates found that the Nash County Department of Social Services had been alerted weeks earlier that Lane was possibly being abused. However, Nash DSS chose not to remove the girl from her grandmother’s custody at the time.
Christal died less than two months later.
“Christal was murdered allegedly by her grandmother, and because of the lack of oversight in that county, we were not in the position to be able to protect or have any type of oversight regarding what happened during the investigative stage,” Sen. Sydney Batch of Wake County said.
The state launched an investigation into Nash DSS in the wake of WRAL Investigates’ reporting.
In a report released on March 17, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services found that Nash DSS mishandled the investigation into the alleged abuse of Christal Lane, but also consistently failed to properly follow policy in other child abuse investigations.
“Because that did not happen, because there is a lack of oversight in the investigative process, she was murdered,” Batch said.
A new bipartisan effort is looking to change that.
Batch is filing a proposed change to NC Statute 108A-74 called Christal’s Law. She said currently, each county in North Carolina has a self-administered DSS department, meaning it oversees its own social service investigations.
Batch told WRAL Investigates the new law would give the state more power to check how those investigations are being carried out in real time.
“And, by doing so, they will be able to ensure that any abnormalities or issues with regards to violation of policies are seen early on and hopefully prevent a child from being murdered or losing her life,” she said.
WRAL Investigates obtained a partial copy of the bill.
It reads: “Except where prohibited by state or federal law, the Secretary [of NCDHHS] would have access to records and information pertaining to any open or closed child welfare case of DSS, to inquire into and review any county social work practice.
“This authority may be exercised as part of regular monitoring, or in response to complaints received by the department.”
Lawmakers said they hoped the change would work to save future children in need from meeting the same fate as Christal Lane.
“Christal’s law is extremely important, we have gone way too long in this state for not having oversight at the local level,” Batch said. “There are amazing DSS offices across the state, but the problem is, not every single one of them practices to the level to which we know we’re going to protect kids and families.”
Lawmakers submitted the bill on Tuesday with it slated to be officially filed with the North Carolina state legislature as soon as Wednesday morning.
