As reported here, Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, is here in Washington State to push our legislature to pass "Jessica's Law" (HB2476/SB6314) which would stiffen penalties for child sex abuse from the ridiculously low levels the penalties are currently at, to a mandatory 25 years to life.
Jessica Lunsford is the Florida girl who was abducted, repeatedly raped, and then buried alive, and then left to die, by a released sex offender. If the various state legislature's had had any back bone, any moral fiber, that released sex offender would not have been released, and Jessica would be alive today.
But there are some who say that a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life may make some victims family members reluctant to testify in a case of a relative being the abuser, as they may want the perpetrator to be punished, but not for that length of time. In many cases currently, where a relative is the abuser, they get a 6 month sentence and "treatment". To those who say that the stiffer penalties are too harsh, I say HOGWASH! A sex offender is a sex offender, whether they are a relative or a stranger. If you do not apply the mandatory sentence that "Jessica's Law" calls for in the case of a relative as the abuser, the you set a double standard, and open the way for sentences to be thrown out in cases of abuse by a stranger. I can guarantee you that the ACLU would be right there to file appeals in that kind of a situation, which we do not need, as the ACLU has done enough damage in sexual abuse cases as it is. Passage of this law would also preclude such sentences as the 60 day sentence recently handed down by a lunatic Vermont Judge, which I posted about here.
This law must be made the law of the land! I urge everyone, of whatever political stripe, to press your legislators to pass this law.
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