Huntsman, lawmakers support 'Jessica's Law' bill

Lawmakers and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. announced support today for a bill that would bring the most severe criminal penalty under Utah law for child sex offenses, short of capital murder.

The bill, supported by Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, proposes a mandatory 25 years to life in prison for those convicted of rape of a child, object rape of a child and sodomy upon a child and proposes offering a mandatory 15 years to life sentence for possible plea deals.

During a noon press conference today, Huntsman said he fully supported the bill and expected that he would sign it into law if the Utah Legislature votes to approve it.

Wimmer said the bill would become the "gold standard" of sex offender laws across the country. He said the bill would offer a lower plea deal sentence in cases where child victims, or their parents, would not want to testify in court. In cases of plea deals, the bill would allow judges leeway to lower sentences depending on the facts of the case.

Lawmakers said the bill is needed, mainly because under current law, which mandates 15 years to life for such crimes, there is no alternative sentence for plea deals, resulting in extremely low sentences.

The bill, if passed, would make punishment for rape of a child, object rape of a child and sodomy upon a child the most severe criminal punishment on Utah's law books, second only to capital murder, which can include the death penalty, life without parole or life with parole. The punishment for aggravated felony murder is 20 years to life. There is also a mandatory 15 years if the victim was that person's spouse, under Lori's Law, named in memory of murder victim Lori Hacking.

The bill is similar to one passed in Florida called Jessica's Law in memory of Jessica Lunsford, who was raped and murdered in 2005 in Florida by a previously-convicted sex offender.

Wimmer said the Legislature may have to increase the maximum penalty for murder in order to make it comparable to his bill.

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