Gov. Brad Little (R-Idaho) recently signed a new law to allow individuals convicted of sexually abusing children 12 years old and younger to be sentenced with the death penalty.
According to The Post Millennial, the legislation, known as “House Bill 380,” makes Idaho the first state to legalize the use of firing squads against convicted pedophiles. The outlet noted that Idaho’s law, which will take effect on July 1, establishes a new criminal charge of aggravated lewd conduct with children under the age of 12.
Last Tuesday, the governor’s office issued a press release regarding Little’s historic signing of House Bill 380 in March. The governor’s office noted that the new law will allow the death penalty to be imposed against “pedophiles charged with aggravated lewd conduct with children 12 and younger” and that the law will also strengthen “punishments for other convicted pedophiles.”
“Just like capital murder destroys lives, aggravated sexual abuse of a young child devastates victims and families for generations,” Little said. “The sexual abuse of children is sickening and evil, and perpetrators convicted of these crimes deserve the ultimate punishment.”
READ MORE: Child molesters to face death penalty under new bill in Idaho
“Idaho also just became the ONLY state to make death by firing squad the primary method of execution,” the governor added. “I commend my partners in the Legislature for strengthening Idaho’s already powerful ‘tough on crime’ reputation among the states.”
In addition to the legalization of the death penalty against child molesters, Idaho’s new law also includes a mandatory minimum prison sentence for individuals convicted of aggravated lewd conduct with minors under the age of 16 if the aggravated lewd conduct cases do not meet the state’s requirements for the death penalty sentence.
Under the new law, prosecutors will be required to prove that defendants meet three of 17 factors in aggravated lewd conduct cases prior to individuals being charged with the death penalty, according to KTVB. The factors include sexually transmitting a disease to a minor, committing three or more acts of lewd conduct with a minor, and using force in a lewd conduct case against a minor.
In a statement obtained by KTVB, State Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Idaho) explained that Idaho had “some of the most lenient statutes for child molestation and child rape in the nation” prior to House Bill 380. The Republican state representative added that House Bill 380, which was unanimously passed by the Idaho House and passed by the majority of the Idaho Senate, will create a “strong deterrent” for sex crimes against Idaho’s children and will make it clear that the state “will not tolerate these offenses.”
© American Military News
