Pittsburgh-area abuse case spurs proposed state legislation to protect domestic violence survivors
Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a set of bills in hopes of protecting domestic violence survivors, inspired by a traumatic story of abuse that happened in the Pittsburgh area.
At the South Fayette Police Department on Tuesday, Stacey French described the horrifying abuse, manipulation and stalking that she said her friend went through for more than 28 years at the hands of John Mowod, her friend's now estranged husband, and a former local movie producer.
"He pinned her up against the wall, choked her and called her an n-word lover," French said. "Their son pulled his father off of her and wrestled the knife from him, while their daughter was on the phone with 911, and began packing her wounds to try to save her life."
The latter happened in November 2022 in the township. It would lead to Mowod pleading guilty to attempted homicide and other charges, and a judge sentencing him to up to 15 years in prison. Despite this, another judge ruled that Mowod was entitled to a portion of his ex-wife's pension and other marital assets, as French said she continues to suffer from physical and mental abuse.
"She is in deep debt. Her credit is gone, and she is forced to hire an attorney to fight for any money to pay off creditors, support their minor child and to live," French said.
The story of French's friend is sparking a new package of four bills introduced by Republican state Rep. Jason Ortitay of District 46 and Democratic state Rep. Lindsay Powell of District 21.
The first would allow courts in protection from abuse matters and criminal proceedings to order abusers to wear a GPS monitoring device that enables survivors to track their location in real time, even with alerts to law enforcement.
The second would prohibit courts from awarding abusers alimony, spousal support or a share of marital assets in divorces.
The third would allow survivors of coerced debt to formally challenge such obligations with a creditor, and the last would create a program to help survivors get home security to protect themselves from future harm.
They're all steps lawmakers, French and police hope will prevent current and future survivors from additional trauma and provide some peace of mind.
"Pennsylvania law is going to change. Because of her courage, survivors we will never meet are going to have the tools and protections that she didn't have," Ortitay said.
The bills are in the committee stage. The lawmakers said they already have bipartisan cosponsors on all of them and are working to gather more support.
If you or someone you know is in a domestic violence situation and needs help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.
