Miley was shaken by her biological father on October 16, 2013 when she was just seven (7) months old. The abuse left Miley with severe injuries including bleeding on her brain, bleeding in her eyes, bruising on her body and a fracture in her leg. Miley was given a twenty percent (20%) chance of survival.
Miley survived the abuse but faced a host of challenges during recovery. She wore braces on her legs to help straighten out her feet. She wore an eye patch on her right eye, because the abuse caused her to be cross-eyed. She worked with a speech therapist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, vision therapist and a play therapist. Miley's doctors advised against her playing any contact sports to protect her from further brain injuries. Miley's life is forever changed.
Miley's biological father was sentenced to one (1) to fifteen (15) years for felony child abuse. He will be up for parole after serving ten (10) years in prison. This didn't sit well with Miley's grandmother, JoAnn Otten, and she became an advocate for child abuse prevention. In a story on Love What Matters, Otten wrote, "After much soul searching I felt that Utah needed a Child Abuse Registry just like the sex offender’s registry. I contacted my state representative and asked him if he would help me to sponsor this type of bill."
Representative Derrin Owens worked with Otten and introduced Miley's Bill to the Utah Legislature, and on March 9, 2017, Miley's Bill became Miley's Law.
On February 7, 2019, Utah's Child Abuse Registry became operational. Here is the LINK TO UTAH'S CHILD ABUSE REGISTRY. Otten encourages fellow Utahns to use the registry to help protect our children. Said Otten in a KSL News story announcing the registry going live, "If your babysitter is on there or your neighbor or a coach that your children play sports with, it is a guide for you to look at, to make sure your children going with people who are safe."
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