On April 15, 2024, Governor Josh Shapiro signed Senate Bill 55, “Kayden’s Law,” making changes to the Pennsylvania child custody factors set forth in Title 23 in an effort to provide further protection to children’s safety.
Kayden’s Law is in response to the tragedy that took place on August 5, 2018, when seven-year-old Kayden Mancuso was brutally murdered by her biological father, Jeffrey Mancuso, in Bucks County. Just a few months prior to Kayden’s passing, her mother, Kathy Sherlock, submitted evidence of Mr. Mancuso’s violent history to the court, including his criminal and mental health history, evidence of previous threats of harm made by Mr. Mancuso, and a filed Protection from Abuse Complaint. Ultimately, while the Court reduced Mr. Mancuso’s custodial time, Mr. Mancuso was provided with periods of physical custody unsupervised despite the evidence presented. The Court’s rationale in the ruling was that there was not evidence presented that Mr. Mancuso ever abused Kayden.
Even though the Pennsylvania custody statute did not ignore the safety of children, Kayden’s Law broadens the scope of the custody factors set forth in 23 Pa.C.S.A. §5328 of which relates to the safety of the children. With Kayden’s Law, the custody factors will now encourage judges to take into consideration a parents complete behavioral history and criminal record, even if that history does not involve child abuse.
Kayden’s Law also adds seven (7) additional crimes that must be considered when determining the custody arrangement. These crimes include simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, cruelty to animals, animal fighting, possession of items related to animal fighting, and interference with child custody.
Additionally, should the court find there is a history of abuse towards a child or a member of the household by a party, any award of custody to the party with a history of abuse must be accompanied with an outline of safety conditions, restrictions, and/or safeguards that are reasonably necessary to protect the child or abused household member. If the court finds a history of abuse or present evidence of harm and awards the party possessing the risk unsupervised physical custody, the court must specifically state why it is in the best interest of the child to award said custody.
Even more substantial than the above, if there is a determination by the court that a risk of harm exists to a child, by preponderance of the evidence, Kayden’s Law creates a rebuttable presumption that the court shall only allow supervised physical custody between the party posing the risk and the child(ren). Individuals subject to supervised visitation may have to pay for a professional service providing supervised visitation, or they will be unable to see their child(ren) at all. The new requirements of supervised visits will unproportionally affect low-income families.
Kayden’s Law went into effect on August 15, 2024.
