A new task force has been created by state Sen. Carine Werner, R-Scottsdale, to review Arizona's child abuse reporting policies and laws.
The task force comes after the death of 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste, whom her father and his girlfriend allegedly killed. Richard Baptiste and Anicia Woods are facing first-degree murder and child abuse charges, Fox 10 reported.
According to Arizona Family, Rebekah Baptiste died July 30. The outlet said the Arizona Department of Child Safety received at least 12 reports from Rebekah Baptiste's school dealing with alleged abuse and neglect claims.
Werner told The Center Square Wednesday that this task force came about after she and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell had a meeting with Kathryn Ptak, the director of DCS.
During the meeting, the state senator said they reviewed the DCS’ decision-making tools after it was revealed that only one of the school’s reports met the threshold for action.
Werner said the task force will have a “narrow scope” and will take a “deep dive into the [Rebekah] Baptiste case to see what went wrong.”
"Rebekah's death is the most painful reminder that when red flags are raised, they must never be ignored," Werner said. "If the laws and protocols are written to prevent authorities from acting when children are in clear danger, then those laws and protocols must change.”
