Hardcore Molesters to Face Death Penalty in Texas

Repeat sex offenders could be sentenced to death in Texas after the bill named Jessica's Law was approved this week by Texas House of Representatives. The bill is named after Jessica Lunsford, a girl who was kidnapped and then killed. Jessica's Law makes Texas the sixth to allow death penalty for child sex offenders.

The main purpose of the new law is to crack down on hardcore molesters who repeatedly commit sex offence against children child.

The state's House of Representatives voted to create a new category of crime: repeated sexual abuse of a child. It implies a sentence of at least 25 years of prison or possibly capital punishment for a second sex offence of a child or children.

Jessica's Law became a compromise after the Lone Star State's House of Representatives put off voting on a broader death sentence provision, as the lawmakers had some constitutional concerns as well as some worries that the new law might cause some criminals to kill their victims. After having talked to district attorneys and defense lawyers the lawmakers came back for a vote.

The bill has a „Romeo and Juliet“ exception which helps to avoid prosecuting cases that could be a school romance which still might be punishable under some rape laws, but not the recently approved continual assault law.

Jessica's Law implies removal of the statute of limitations for many sex crimes against children.

Child sexual abuse is a much more common phenomenon in America than one might think. 67 percent of victims of all sexual assaults are children with median age for sexual abuse 9 years old.

According to experts one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Awfully, 34 percent of sexually abused children were preyed by members of their families and 59 percent by friends of a child or his family.

Experts say that child sexual abuse is not just a bad experience. Teenagers with a history of sexual offence are 3 times more likely to become depressed and to attempt suicide than their peers who do not have such an experience.

Teenagers and adults with history of sexual abuse in the childhood are considerably more likely to become alcohool addicts and to enhage in high-risk sexual behavior that leads to STDs, including AIDS and other health problems.