Ohio House Passed Amanda Dean's Law

State Representatives Gayle Manning (R-Avon) and Kellie Deeter (R-Norwalk) today announced the Ohio House passed Amanda Dean's Law, legislation that would increase criminal penalties to ensure accountability, protect human dignity, and provide justice for victims' families.

Amanda Dean's Law increases penalties for a person who treats a human body in a way that deeply violates family or community standards, and it imposes even stronger consequences when the abuse involves dismemberment, mutilation, intentional disfigurement, or attempts to hide a crime or interfere with justice.

House Bill 654 is named in honor of Amanda Dean, a 36-year-old mother of four, who was tragically murdered by her boyfriend in 2017. Investigators with BCI determined that Dean was killed inside a residence where the couple lived, and that the killer later cleaned the crime scene and disposed of evidence. Dean's body has not been found.

"Abuse of a human corpse is a profound violation of dignity and deeply traumatizing for families, and Amanda Dean's Law ensures that Ohio law treats these offenses with the seriousness they deserve and holds offenders fully accountable," said Manning.

"House Bill 654 strengthens Ohio law by establishing enhanced penalties for offenders who dismember, mutilate, or intentionally disfigure a human corpse, particularly when those acts are committed to conceal a crime, obstruct justice, or impair a criminal investigation," said Deeter. "This bill is about dignity, accountability, and justice. Amanda Dean's Law sends a clear message that Ohio will not tolerate conduct that dishonors the deceased or compounds the suffering of surviving family members."

Key provisions of Amanda Dean's Law include:

• Reclassifying abuse of a corpse that outrages reasonable family sensibilities as a felony of the fifth degree;
• Increasing penalties for gross abuse of a corpse to a felony of the fourth degree;
• Elevating the offense to a felony of the third degree when the conduct involves dismemberment, mutilation, or intentional disfigurement;
• Establishing a felony of the second degree when such acts are committed to conceal a crime, obstruct justice, or impair a criminal investigation or prosecution.

House Bill 654 now advances to the Ohio Senate.