CenLamar

From The Town Talk:

Angela Petrus didn’t feel her son got justice when his attacker went to court more than a year ago, so she vowed to make a change.

And about two years after the Monroe mom started her battle, the fight is nearly won.

In October 2008, Kyle Petrus — then 13 and a resident of St. Mary’s Residential Training Facility — had bleach thrown in his face by an employee there. That employee — Gregory McGinnis of Alexandria — pleaded no contest and received only probation, no jail time, for cruelty to the infirmed.

“What’s done is done,” Petrus said soon after the sentence was announced. “I could be angry, or I could feel sorry for myself, or I could make sure this never happens again and another child doesn’t have to go through what Kyle did.”

And that’s what she started to do. She and her attorney Michael Koch looked at the current cruelty to the infirmed law and contacted Rep. Chris Roy Jr., D-Alexandria, about making a change. Petrus said there needs to be mandatory jail time for intentional acts like the one perpetrated against Kyle.

Her battle led Petrus to Baton Rouge where she witnessed the full House unanimously approve House Bill 762, which will add a mandatory minimum of six months of jail time for those who are found guilty of an intentionally cruel act to the infirmed.

Thank you, Mrs. Petrus.

Without a doubt, your son was the victim of a heinous crime, and it is disgusting that the criminal was allowed to walk away so quickly.

Thank you for standing up for the rights of the infirm, the disabled, and the elderly.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, and kudos to your son for his courage and tenacity.