House Bill 10

From Progress Ohio and The Plain Dealer

Governor Ted Strickland just signed a new law that gives juvenile judges new tools to protect teens after the Ohio Senate passed the House Bill only days ago.

House Bill 10 authorizes juvenile court judges to issue and enforce protection orders defending one minor from another when one has been accused of committing felonious or aggravated assault, menacing by stalking, a sex crime or similar offense. The House Bill takes effect in 90 days.

Linda Dooley Johanek, Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Center of Greater Cleveland, cites the following statistics: about one in three high school students has been or will be involved in an abusive relationship; 38 percent of date rape victims are 14 to 17 years old; 40 percent of teenage girls in that same age group acknowledge that they know someone their age who has been hit by a boyfriend.

Ohio lawmakers were prompted to write a bill after the murder of Shynerra Grant, 17, of Toledo. Shynerra was killed by an ex-boyfriend in 2005. Johanna Orozco provided fearless testimony when lawmakers were deciding the passage of the bill. Johanna survived being raped, stalked and shot in the face by a former boyfriend three years ago, and was unable to obtain a protection order from police because the law did not allow protection orders for minors.