State Representative Jim Struzzi announced today that his bill called “Cody’s Law” passed the State House and is on its way to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
House Bill 185 will charge anyone who intentionally causes bodily injury to a person with a physical or intellectual disability with aggravated assault, which is a second-degree felony. Currently, the law only permits a charge of misdemeanor simple assault unless there is serious bodily injury. The bill was inspired by an incident in August of 2019 where Cody Overdorff of Homer City, who has Williams Syndrome, was lured out to the Hoodlebug Trail near Floodway Park and attacked by three individuals, Cory Blystone of Sagamore, Jordan Kinney of Indiana, and Dakota Lee Patterson of Burnside, while Katelyn Lemley recorded the beating on video and put it on social media. All four have been sentenced in connection with the incident.
State representative Jim Struzzi said he was happy to see the bill gain bipartisan support in the state house. He called it a bill that “speaks to strengthening the penalty for those individuals who would act out against vulnerable members of our communities.”
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