House OK’s ‘Justin’s Law’ for repeat sex offenders

5-6-2013 Texas:

Legislation to impose tougher penalties for repeat sex offenders is advancing in the Texas House.

Nacogdoches Republican Travis Clardy’s House Bill 1302 received initial approval Monday via voice vote.

The proposal toughens state sex offender laws by making it an automatic sentence of life without parole for a second conviction involving a violent sexual assault of a child under 14. The bill covers violent crimes such as sexual assault, sex trafficking and kidnapping.

On Monday, Clardy summed up the proposal: “two strikes and you’re out for life.”

The bill, dubbed “Justin’s Law,” was prompted by the 2010 death of 12-year-old Justin Bloxom. Prosecutors say Bloxom was kidnapped and killed in Louisiana by a twice-convicted sex offender who drove a cab and used text messages to lure the boy into his taxi.

Clardy’s bill also prohibits repeat child sex offenders from working at amusement parks or seeking employment as cab, bus, or limo drivers. Similar proposals filed in the boy’s name have already been passed in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

The Texas bill still needs to clear a final House vote before moving to the Senate. ..Source.. by Chron.com