State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I - Schenectady) announced that he and his colleagues in the New York State Senate this last week passed legislation that would increase criminal penalties for carjacking when a child under the age of 16 is present in the vehicle. The bill (S1905), would make it a class B felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

Last year, a woman and her 10-year-old daughter were abducted in a carjacking in the Syracuse suburb of Clay, Onondaga County. The mother was fatally stabbed, and the child escaped the vehicle, after being raped. In July, David J. Renz pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and predatory sexual assault against a child.

The bill was sent to the Assembly.