South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster joined lawmakers, law enforcement officials and prosecutors at the Statehouse last week for a ceremonial signing of legislation expanding the state’s Homicide by Child Abuse statute.
Senate Bill 405, signed into law March 9, 2026, extends the statute’s protections to victims under age 18, closing a gap in the previous law that limited the maximum age of victims to 11.
Under the former statute, children ages 12 through 17 were excluded from the specialized homicide by child abuse charge. When an older child died as a result of abuse or neglect, prosecutors had to pursue murder or other criminal charges instead.
The new law broadens the age range covered by the statute, allowing prosecutors to apply the child abuse homicide charge in qualifying cases involving victims through age 17.
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Patrick Byrne lives in Tega Cay with his wife and two daughters. After 25 years working for a Big 4 bank, he retired to pursue his passion for writing. Additional articles and content can be found on his blog (reverian1776.blogspot.com) and freethepeople.org.
