ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A proposal in Jefferson City would prevent someone from being charged with hazing -- if they call police and help the victim.
Missouri Rep. Sherri Gallick (R) from Benton, Missouri, introduced legislation that would change hazing law to encourage help for victims.
Under House Bill 234, people who might otherwise be guilty of the crime of hazing can be exempt if they’re the first person to call the police or campus security to report that someone needs emergency medical aid. They also have to provide adequate information, stay with the person until help arrives and cooperate with emergency responders.
"What this bill is doing is bringing more awareness to hazing," said Gallick to 'Total Information A.M.' Wednesday.
"This is really targeted towards the people that coordinated the hazing events. It is not for somebody who is just there that's doing the same thing."
The bill proposal comes over three years since the horrible tragedy that took at the University of Missouri back on Oct. 21, 2021, when then Mizzou-freshman Danny Santulli ended up in the hospital after a alcohol hazing incident at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, commonly known as Fiji.
Gallick says she reached out to the Santulli family, along with all the universities across the state, including Mizzou and Missouri State about the bill and all parties expressed support for it.
"(The Santulli family) explained how important this was to them," said Gallick. "The parents, when I talked to Danny's dad, they do not want to have to prosecute anybody. They want their children back."
Gallick says based on conversations and research, around 55% of social groups do some form of hazing and it doesn't just apply to just frats and soroities.
"It's football, it's band, it's different types of organizations," said Gallick.