A Republican-sponsored bill will be introduced in the U.S. House this week that aims to put convicted pedophiles behind bars or executed.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has authored a bill dubbed the “No Repeat Child Sex Offenders Act,” which would raise the federal minimum sentencing for sexual abusers of children to the death penalty or life in prison.
“You cannot cure predators,” Luna posted on X. The bill’s impending reveal occurs while the nation is observing Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“It’s absurd to me, not only as a new mom, but also if you just look at some of the federal statutes, that there’s not more strict punishments for people that are doing this,” Luna told Fox News.
Although child sexual abuse tends to be prosecuted locally if the offense did not occur on federal lands, child pornography and sex trafficking are more likely to fall under federal jurisdiction. Current penalties depend on the victim’s age and whether force or coercion was employed and currently range from a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 to 15 years.
Luna also expressed her plans to introduce legislation aiming to increase federal minimums for the possession of child pornography and rape.
“It is absurd that rapists can get off after a few years of “‘good’ behavior after destroying lives,” the congresswoman posted on X.
The latest available data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that the average sentence handed out to sexual abuse offenders was 211 months in 2021. Those found guilty of producing child pornography were sentenced to an average of 277 months in prison, while rapists saw an average sentence of 190 months.
As covered by DX, the sexual assault response team reports recently filed by North Texas counties as part of a state requirement revealed some serious gaps in the handling and investigation of these crimes, especially in Dallas County.
In Dallas, there have been 139 sex crimes — 58 of which were rape — reported this year as of April 9, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. Yet many sexual assaults may go unreported in part due to the significant officer shortage within DPD, causing significant delays in response times — just one of many reasons crime rates may appear lower overall.
