Ohio lawmakers are moving to stiffen penalties for abusing a corpse with a proposal dubbed “Amanda Dean’s Law,” a response to a recent conviction that left the victim’s family convinced the state’s punishment did not match the crime. The bill would raise penalties for abuse of a corpse and create a tiered system of felony charges for mutilation, dismemberment and other severe conduct, following a 14-year sentence in the Amanda Dean case that sponsors and relatives say exposed gaps in Ohio law. Supporters argue that desecration of human remains should be treated as a core element of violent offenses, not an afterthought tacked on at the end of a case.
What the bill would change
House Bill 654 aims to overhaul Ohio’s abuse-of-a-corpse statutes by elevating some offenses to more serious felony levels and spelling out multiple tiers so punishment tracks more closely with the harm, as reported by WOIO. Sponsors rolled out the proposal alongside Amanda Dean’s family at a January event, saying the current penalty scheme left some of the worst conduct undercharged. Rep. Kellie Deeter, one of the bill’s sponsors, told supporters the measure is designed to make clear that “these types of acts are not afterthoughts.”
Tiered penalties spelled out
Under the draft language, the bill would set up a tiered penalty structure: routine abuse could be elevated to a fifth-degree felony, gross abuse could be raised to a fourth-degree felony, dismembering or intentionally disfiguring a body would be treated as a third-degree felony, and committing those acts to hide another crime could be charged as a second-degree felony, per NBC4. That reshuffling would increase the maximum incarceration tied to the most serious corpse-abuse charge from about a year to as much as eight years, according to supporters of the bill.
The case behind the push
The proposal takes its name from Amanda Dean, a Huron County mother of four who disappeared in July 2017. Prosecutors say her former partner, Frederick Reer, killed Dean, dismembered and disposed of evidence, and was sentenced to 14 years in prison in January, though her body has never been found, according to a news release from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Dean’s relatives and advocates have repeatedly urged lawmakers to boost penalties after the court acknowledged limits in the existing statute when cases involve desecration of remains, the family told WOIO.
Where the bill stands now
HB 654 was introduced in January 2026 and has already begun moving through the Statehouse. Witnesses testified in March as the proposal came before the House Public Safety Committee, according to a legislative tracking report by Gongwer. The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association lists HB 654 on its bills-of-interest page and signals support for a penalty increase, reflecting prosecutors’ backing for tougher corpse-abuse statutes, per the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
What it would mean
Prosecutors say stiffer, tiered penalties would give juries and judges clearer tools to address different levels of misconduct and could change how plea deals are handled in cases where a body is never recovered. Supporters contend the bill offers a stronger sense of accountability and a measure of closure for families in situations like the Dean case. As HB 654 moves through committee, lawmakers are expected to keep wrestling with where to draw the line between tougher punishment and maintaining consistent, fair sentencing standards across Ohio’s criminal code.
