Sen. April Weaver (R-Briarfield) and Rep. Mike Shaw (R-Hoover) announced legislation that would create tougher consequences for abduction hoaxes in the wake of the Carly Russell case.

Weaver and Shaw announced a bill Thursday that would make faking kidnapping a Class C felony with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Russell drew national attention last July when she called police to report an infant along Interstate 459 and then disappeared without a trace. When Russell reappeared two days later, it quickly became clear that the infant had never been present, and had instead created the illusion that it had been abducted.

“Like many others in Alabama and across the country, when news broke of Carlesia Russell's kidnapping and disappearance, I paused and prayed for her safe return,” Weaver said. Ta. “The fact that an incident like this could happen so close to home is extremely worrying and makes an already alarming event even more alarming.

“Like many others, I was furious when I learned that the entire incident was an elaborate hoax,” she said. “We wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars and hundreds of human resources.”

Russell has already been convicted of two misdemeanor charges related to the case, but there is currently no law specific to abduction hoaxes.

The bill would require those convicted to serve the full term of their prison sentence and pay full restitution to cover the costs of law enforcement and organizations assisting in investigating false reports. ing.

Hoover Police Chief Nick Dargis said Hoover police worked more than 424 hours of overtime and the department spent more than $50,000 over two days searching for Russell.

The bill would create a new felony for situations where a false report alleges an imminent danger to a person or the public. It's unclear whether such a law applied to Russell, and prosecutors would have to argue that Russell's false report about the toddler on the street conveyed imminent danger to the child. In that case, this law would likely apply, but it has nothing to do with the abduction hoax itself. Russell never falsely reported the abduction, and it was deemed an abduction when police arrived and found Russell's car abandoned.

Congress begins Tuesday, February 6th.