Las Vegas NowVictim Wants Domestic Abusers Registered as Sex Offenders

Victim Wants Domestic Abusers Registered as Sex Offenders

It was just last month that Robyn Brooks was fighting for her life at the hospital after her own husband beat her face with a hammer. Now her family wants the world to know about people like Robert Smith - by creating a law forcing them to register like a sex offender.

Robert Smith is being held at the Henderson detention center. He is charged with attempted murder. His wife's family says they had no idea he had abused other people. They want others to know the truth.

Smart, successful and beautiful Robyn Brooks thought she had found the man of her dreams. Dreams that have turned into nightmares for her family.

"There's not a day, there's not a minute, there's not a second that I wake up and I am not tearful. I am her mom," Carol Brooks says. Carol is also a nurse but there was nothing she could do after her daughter was beaten.

"Her husband had gone to the garage, grabbed the toolbox, opened it, took the hammer out and blindsided her to the face," Robert Brooks says.

The couple was fighting after Robyn found out Smith had previous convictions.

"The girl he hurt before was pregnant with his child and he beat her so badly she had to have an emergency C-Section," carol says.

Robyn's family wants a law passed -- Robyn's law-- that would make abusers register and put their profiles online.

"You would see a picture and you would see the place where the incident occurred," Robert says.

Kathleen Brooks is the associate director for Safenest, a local woman's shelter. "I think it is an interesting concept but I'm not sure how it's going to work since most of the domestic violence offences only get a misdemeanor," she says.

But Robyn's family says something must be done before it's too late.

"If my daughter had known she wouldn't have married him," Carol says.