LIVINGSTON, Texas – The family of Audrii Cunningham, the 11-year-old Livingston girl murdered by a family friend, is now working to propose a law named after the late innocent pre-teen.
Audrii was found dead after an exhaustive five-day search spanning hundreds of square miles in both Polk and San Jacinto Counties in February.
Don Steven McDougal, who lived in a trailer behind the home Audrii lived in, is accused of killing the child.
Audrii lived with her father at her grandparent’s home along Lake Livingston. On Thursday, her grandparents spoke with KPRC 2 reporter Gage Goulding for the first time since Audrii went missing.
During the nearly hour-long interview, they unveiled their plan to propose new legislation called Audrii’s Law.
The goal of the law would be to expand the requirements for offenders that need to be included on the sex offender registry.
Audrii’s family said that McDougal slipped through a loophole in the system. McDougal was previously convicted of enticing a child, according to court records. Despite being convicted for the crime and serving jail time, McDougal was not forced to register as a sex offender.
Audrii’s grandparents say they were aware of his criminal past. However, they both wanted to give McDougal a second chance at life.
“We saw the good side of him. I mean, he showed us what he wanted us to see.” said Audrii’s grandfather, Philip Munsch. “He was formerly incarcerated, but we had no idea. We checked his sex offender registry, and he did not show up on it.”
“He played us all,” added Audrii’s grandmother Tabitha Munsch. “He showed us a side that wanted to get clean and that everything he had done was attributed to drugs. And it wasn’t.”
Gage: “You were aware of his history and you were going to give him a second chance. A lot of people were passing over on him, and you went a step further and you checked that registry. Did you feel that that gave you peace of mind and that you did your due diligence before letting somebody stay here?”
Philip: “So, there is gray areas in the registry, but then there’s a big dark hole where people who committed a sexual assault wound up plea bargaining down to a misdemeanor. And because it’s only a misdemeanor, they didn’t have to register.”
It’s that very “hole” that Audrii’s family is looking to close. Simply put, their goal is to expand the requirements for offenders to register as a sex offender.
“That’s the hole that we want to work on closing,” Philip said. “Crime Stoppers of Houston have offered to help us go to the Texas state legislature and promote a bill which we’re going to call Audrii’s Law, to help close that loophole. If they started out with a sexual assault and they plea bargain it down, they still should register. So people know that that person has that history.”
Currently in Texas, only those with a “reportable conviction or adjudication” are required to register as a sex offender. This means they have to be convicted or adjudicated on certain guidelines of laws.
Watch more from our exclusive interview with Audrii’s grandparents in the video player below: