A Florida Republican is proposing legislation that would require convicted child sex abusers to face either the death penalty or life in prison.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said the “No Repeat Child Sex Offenders Act” will be introduced in the House on Thursday, according to Fox News. She outlined her philosophy in a pair of social media posts.
“You cannot rehabilitate predators. If you rape children, you deserve the death penalty,” Luna posted on X.
“Death penalty. It will come to the floor. Let’s see who tries to protect pedophiles,” she wrote on Facebook.
In comments to Fox, Luna noted that her bill applies to those who hire minors for sex.
“Anyone who is even going to consider exploiting someone like this — and you can’t tell me that they don’t know that these people are trafficked or that they don’t know that that’s a young child — but the fact is … if you’re knowingly doing this, you have to be held accountable,” she said.
“It’s pretty black and white.”
The bill would also impose the death penalty or life in prison on convicted sex traffickers. Under current law, sex traffickers may receive a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine.
“It’s absurd to me, not only as a new mom, but also if you just look at some of the federal statutes, that there’s not more strict punishments for people that are doing this,” Luna said.
Do you support Luna’s proposal?
Additionally, Luna wants the federal minimum sentence for rape to be increased to 30 years and is calling for tougher penalties for possession of child pornography.
“It is absurd that rapists can get off after a few years of ‘good’ behavior after destroying lives. I will also be asking to increase the federal minimum,” the congresswoman posted Saturday on X.
I am also introducing a bill this week regarding rape. It is absurd that rapists can get off after a few years of “good” behavior after destroying lives. I will also be asking to increase the federal minimum. https://t.co/YcyiumExfh
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) April 6, 2024
Luna offered more details to Fox.
“Whether it’s issues of rape or molestation … it destroys people’s lives, and it’s something that they carry with them for the rest of the time that they’re adults. And so it can impact people, and we should be thinking of this very seriously,” she said.
“One of my big platforms has been, how do you combat child trafficking, just with everything happening in our country? And it seems like there’s been this obviously massive issue here in the States with consumption of … child pornography and/or just attacks, really, on kids.”
“I think that if you’re really about protecting children … you have to have strict laws. And that’s exactly why we’ve introduced it.”
