NC- Senate passes Jessica's Law to increase penalties for child molesters

Long term I see this as being declared unconstitutional under excessive punishment aspect!

6-12-2008 North Carolina:

RALEIGH - The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed Jessica's Law, which would make raping a child younger than 13 punishable by a minimum of 25 years and require offenders to submit to lifetime GPS monitoring once they are released from prison.

The bill is now just a couple of steps shy of becoming law. First it must go back to the House, which passed a similar version last year. If approved there, it will go to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature.

"It's like one strike and you're out," said Sen. David Hoyle of Gaston County, who shepherded through the chamber.

"The passage of this bill is a ‘do not enter' sign to North Carolina for sex offenders," said Rep. Tim Moore of Cleveland County, one of the bill's primary sponsors.

"No child should ever know the horrors that little Jessica Lunsford suffered at the hands of a despicable man and I am proud to honor her memory and her family with passage of this bill," said Rep. Debbie Clary of Cleveland County, another primary sponsor.

The Jessica Lunsford Act is named in memory of a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Florida in 2005. Police had lost track of the sex offender, John Couey. He was staying with his sister, who lived in the same neighborhood as Jessica.

Couey has been sentenced to death for his crimes.

Jessica was a native of Gaston County. She lived in North Carolina until moving to Florida to live with her father.

Her father, Mark Lunsford, came to Raleigh last year to encourage lawmakers to pass Jessica's Law.

"I'm tickled to death that North Carolina is taking these steps and that they're headed in this direction," Lunsford said Wednesday. "I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product."

Lunsford said that it appeared that state legislators took the necessary time to make sure they got the law right.

"There is no Romeo and Juliet," Lunsford said. "There is no consensual sex. There is no reason to put your hand on a child under 13."

The law would apply to people at least 18 years old who rape or sexually assault a child younger than 13. Judges would have the discretion of sentencing the offender to life in prison or 25 years plus lifetime GPS monitoring upon release.

It would increase penalties for sexual exploitation of a minor and place more stringent requirements for people who have to register as sex offenders.

In addition, it makes it a crime for a person on the sex offender registry to go on the premises of places intended primarily for the use of minors, such as playgrounds, child- care centers, children's museums and schools.

Schools and child-care centers would also receive e-mail notification when a registered sex offender moves within a one-mile radius of the center or school.

The bill could go back to the House as early as next week. Moore said he expects the House to give the bill its final approval.

"We worked with the Senate on all the amendments," Moore said. "We agreed with all the amendments and supported all the amendments." ..News Source.. by Barry Smith, Freedom Raleigh Bureau