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'Tommy laws' bill is passed by state House By JESSICA SMITH A bill prompted by the drug-induced disappearance and death of a 17-year-old Phoenix boy has moved through the Oregon House without opposition. House Bill 3059, which would require police to report missing children immediately to a national database, heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to a vote on the Senate floor. The House passed the bill unanimously last Monday. The bill - sponsored by Rep. Rob Patridge - also would require more training for police who investigate cases of missing children. Vicki Kelly, whose son Tommy disappeared after he was injected with methamphetamine, said she is "thrilled" by the progress of the bill. It's being presented with another bill in a package called "Tommy Laws." The second proposed law would make injecting a minor with drugs a class A felony. The House Judiciary Committee signed off on that bill, HB 3035, Friday. It moves to the Joint Ways and Means Committee before a vote on the House floor. "It's really sad that children have to die for laws to be made," Kelly said. "But it's their legacy, I guess." Tommy Kelly was last seen alive Jan. 26, 1999, bloodied and covered in mud as he ran down Pioneer Road near his Phoenix home, telling neighbors, "They're after me." His remains were found in a nearby orchard creek bed June 12, almost 18 months later. After the remains were found, police arrested Phillip H. Bendell, 31, on charges he gave the teen meth at a party. In November, Bendell admitted he had injected Tommy Kelly with meth before the teen disappeared in an apparent psychotic reaction to the drug. Bendell pleaded guilty to one count of delivering a controlled substance to a minor, a class A felony. A Jackson County judge sentenced Bendell to two and a half years in prison, a stiffer penalty than usual because of his prior convictions and because he injected the drug. If the Tommy Laws were in effect, Bendell would have gotten nearly twice the time in prison. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.