It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 11-5 of the General Laws entitled "Assaults" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

{ADD 11-5-14.2. Battery by an adult upon children 10 years of age or younger. -- Serious bodily injury. -- (a) Any person eighteen (18) years of age or older who shall commit a battery upon a child ten (10) years of age or younger causing serious bodily injury shall be deemed to have committed a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than five (5) years but not more than twenty (20) years and a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) nor more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). ADD}

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.