Hunter
04/29/21
The April 2020 drowning of a Tiffin teenager led the Iowa House to unanimously pass a bill making it a crime to fail to disclose the location of a body with intent to conceal a crime.
Three teens and an adult were present when 15-year-old Noah Herring drowned in Coralville Lake. The Gazette reports that none of them called 911 and reportedly withheld information about his disappearance that delayed the discovery of his body by four days.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office could not file charges against those on scene because there was no statute on the books to prosecute them with. As a result, the law passed through the House makes it a serious misdemeanor if someone witnesses an individual “suffering from imminent danger of death or risk of serious injury” and fails to contact authorities. If the incident ends in death, it would be an aggravated misdemeanor. A Class D felony could be leveled against someone who abuses a corpse and fails to disclose its location to conceal a crime.
The Senate, who also approved the bill unanimously earlier, will get it back due to House amendments.
The Iowa Legislature will be heading into overtime to wrap up the 2021 session; Friday is the last day that lawmakers get daily expense funding.