House Passes Kayleigh's Law for Lifetime Abuse Protection

A new federal law could spare thousands of survivors from ever having to face their abusers again in court. The House just passed Kayleigh's Law with unanimous support, sending permanent protection for victims of sex crimes and violent felonies to the Senate.

The bill is named after Kayleigh Kozak, an Arizona mother of five who lived every survivor's nightmare. When she was 12, her teacher and soccer coach Joshua Jacobsen sexually abused her. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail plus lifetime probation.

But 13 years later, Jacobsen asked a judge to end his probation so he could "move on." Kozak had to return to court and sit across the room from the man who violated her as a child. When he tried again the following year, she had to go back once more.

"I am living proof that he is capable of sexually harming children," Kozak told the court. "He consciously chose to violate me, and he was convicted of committing a dangerous crime against a child while he was in a position of power." The judge denied his request both times, citing violations that included unauthorized contact with children.

Kozak turned her trauma into action. She pushed for state legislation in Arizona that gave survivors automatic lifetime protection. More than 1,000 Arizona survivors secured that protection in the first year alone. Wisconsin followed with its own version.

Rep. Abe Hamadeh met Kozak five years ago and promised to take her fight federal. Outside an In-N-Out Burger during his congressional campaign, he told her it would be one of his first bills. On Monday, he kept that promise.

"When you abuse a child, or you sexually abuse a child, or if you commit a violent offense against them, you should never have to interact with that person ever in their lives," Hamadeh said.

Why This Inspires

Kozak's courage transformed a broken system. Instead of accepting that survivors must repeatedly defend their right to safety, she built a movement that crossed party lines and united every member of the House.

Her children joined her at the Capitol to watch the vote. What started as one woman's refusal to stay silent became a national standard for how we protect the most vulnerable.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it could end what Hamadeh calls the "legal tug-of-war" that forces survivors to relive their trauma whenever their abusers decide they deserve a second chance.

"No victim should ever have to endure the hell I had to walk through," Kozak wrote after the vote. Promise made, promise kept.