Alabama to protect child sex abuse survivors with Aaron’s Law, denying pardons

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WRBL) – During a special ceremony Wednesday, Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed Aaron’s Law, a bill aimed at protecting survivors by preventing child sex offenders from ever receiving a pardon. The legislation, passed unanimously in the House and gained swift approval from the Senate.

Aaron’s Law is named after Aaron Nette, a survivor who endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather, who was a youth pastor, a nurse anesthetist and Army veteran. It has been eight years since Nette’s abuser plead guilty to sexually assaulting a minor and received three years of probation. Then, last fall he asked for a pardon, which would have dropped his registered sex offender status. Aaron fought long and hard with the help of his State Representative Allen Treadaway to have this pardon denied. Representative Treadaway went with Aaron to the parole board and offered his full support to sponsor a bill in the legislature to prevent the trauma of facing your abuser every two years for a pardon request. Rep. Treadaway pushed this bill through committees and got it voted on this legislative session.  It passed unanimously.

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The bill’s passage comes as a beacon of hope for countless survivors like Nette to ensure they are spared from the trauma of facing their abusers in court repeatedly. As a U.S. Navy Lieutenant and a married father, Nette’s advocacy has not only secured justice for himself but has paved the way for future generations of survivors to reclaim their voices.

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