WASHINGTON (TNND) — A California mental health diversion law allows for people facing criminal indictments to forgo criminal proceedings and even have the charges wiped from their record if they successfully complete a court-approved treatment program.
Passed in 2018, SB 215 was created to extend relief to people who say that their mental illness contributed to their decision to commit a crime. Any mental illness listed in the DSM-5 is qualified for the diversion program with the only exceptions being antisocial personality disorder and pedophilia.
Crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual abuse of children and other sex crimes which require a person to be registered are also exempt from the program. However, there are at least two known cases in Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in which a child was beaten to death in which their parents were admitted into the diversion program, Fox News Digital reported. A one-year-old baby girl was beaten to death by her father and a 20-month old boy died after bearing 49 injuries at the hands’ of his parents.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper told Fox News Digital that now these parents, responsible for their children’s death, will be able to go out about their lives. They can work in schools or coach.
“We’ve seen some horrific cases here in Sacramento and really across the state of California,” Cooper said.
Earlier this year, a state bill was introduced to extend exclusions to the diversion program to people charged with child abuse and endangerment, but it failed in first committee review.
Cooper said that the law has been grossly abused by criminal defendants, saying that many of his deputies will witness suspects discuss their plan to claim mental health illnesses so they can qualify for the program.
“People need to be held accountable when they commit these types of crimes. Right now, anyone in jail, anyone and everyone are basically applying for mental health diversion and a lot of them are getting it because in the court system, it ties their hands,” Cooper said.
In October, 44-year-old Darren Campoy walked into a Sacramento Credit Union, handed the toll a note requesting money, and walked out with $2,460. Earlier this year, Campoy was granted mental health diversion for previous crime. He has a history of armed robbery, reckless driving, and psychologists have described hime as a “higher risk to public safety.”
“Less than a year later, he’s back to robbing banks. That’s a result of terrible laws. And it’s exactly what happens when accountability gets replaced with excuses,” Sacramento sheriff’s office wrote.