Woman starts petition for tougher child abuse laws

LIMA - A local grandmother upset by the child abuse death of a 3-year-old boy this week has started a petition seeking tougher laws for anyone who harms children.

"I have a lot of people on my (Web) page trying to stop child abuse," said Vicki Ulrich, of Lima. "I have 140 signatures."

Ulrich has called the White House and local lawmakers trying to gain momentum for what she is calling Christopher's Law named after Christopher Faulk, the 3-year-old boy who died this week from child abuse after spending more than a week in the hospital. Ulrich, who has no connection to the Faulk family, was moved to act when she heard about the boy.

Investigators say Faulk's injuries that led to his death were caused by Jacob Jones, who is expected to be charged with murder. Faulk and his mother were staying with Jones and his wife. They had stayed at Jones' Beaverdam home for nearly four months after facing homelessness.

Jones has a criminal history including child endangering, domestic violence and an allegation of child abuse against him, which accused him of slapping a 10-year-old girl in December.

Ulrich, 52, said she knows all too well how child abuse can affect a child. She said she was physically abused by a relative when she was a child.

"This kind of stuff is happening to kids nowadays. They're not stopping there, they are killing them," she said.

In her petition, Ulrich wants a federal child protection law and more restrictive measures on those agencies whose job it is to protect children. She also wants to prevent anyone convicted of child abuse from being around children again and she wants to make sure penalties are tough enough against those who commit child abuse.

Ulrich said she wants to see Children Services do more to prevent abuse and supports giving the agency more power to do that.

Allen County Children Services Director Scott Ferris said he and his staff have discussed an idea in the past week to create a national registry, similar to that for sex offenders, for people convicted of child abuse.

Anyone wanting to report child abuse can call Children Services or police. The caller needs be armed with as much information as possible when making the call, such as the address where the abuse is occurring, the age of the child, a description of the abuse and as much information on the alleged abuser as they know, Ferris said.

To sign a petition seeking tougher laws against those who abuse children visit: www.gopetition.com/petitions/christopher-faulk-law