Legislators Vow To Pass Law In Memory Of Murdered Largo Boy

LARGO, FL — On what would have been Jordan Belliveau's third birthday, two Florida lawmakers have vowed to pass a bill in 2020 that will provide greater protection for foster children.

State Rep. Chris Latvala and Sen. Darryl Rousson announced Monday that they plan to reintroduce Jordan's Law in honor of the 2-year-old Largo boy who was killed after being returned to his mother's custody. The toddler would have turned 3 July 29.

To garner support for the bill and keep the public informed of its progress, the legislators have launched a website containing a petition for those supporting the bill to sign.

Latvala, a Republican from Pinellas County, said he hopes support for the petition will provide the incentive needed for the Florida Senate to pass the bill next year.

Although Jordan's Law cleared the House unanimously during the 2019 legislative session, it failed in the Senate. Senators said they had legal questions concerning the language in the bill. But Latvala maintains it failed due to partisan politics.

“This is about politics and personality, not policy," Latvala tweeted after the bill failed to get the needed votes on the Senate floor. "If only dead toddlers could pay for powerful lobbyists that are close to certain senators, then maybe the FL Senate would do something to protect these kids.”

Rousson, a Democrat representing parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, sponsored the Senate version of the bill during the 2019 session. He said he hopes a groundswell of public support for the bill will turn the tide in the Senate during the upcoming session.

"Sometimes it takes one or two sessions to get a bill through both chambers," said. "It should not have taken that last year, but we’re gonna work like the dickens to make sure it gets through this year."

The Largo boy's mother, Cherise Stinson, now 23, told police April 9 that her son had been kidnapped, sparking a community wide, three-day search for the toddler before Stinson confessed to making the story up. She admitted that she slapped the toddler in the face, and he hit his head against a wall, causing his to have seizures. However, instead of seeking medical help, Stinson left the toddler in the woods behind the Largo Sports Complex where he died. Stinson has been charged with first-degree murder. Her trial is set to begin March 2, 2020.

The case caused an outcry after the public learned that Jordan had been removed from loving foster parents who had custody of him since he was 3 months old and planned to adopt him.

Instead, Jordan was returned to his single, unemployed mother who stood to lose the boy once again for violating the conditions of her reunification agreement. He was originally removed from her care because he was being exposed to an environment of drugs, gangs and violence.

Latvala believes if the protections he is proposing in Jordan's Law had been in place last year, the toddler would be alive today.

The bill calls for streamlining reports of child abuse between caseworkers and law enforcement to better protect at-risk children, setting a 15-child minimum caseload for caseworkers and requiring special training for caseworkers and law enforcement to identify potential brain injuries in youngsters.

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