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Protecting children A bill that would increase mandatory sentences for Utah's child rapists garnered unanimous support from the House of Representatives on Thursday.
HB256, sponsored by Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, increases the penalties for rape, object rape and sodomy of a child to 25 years to life - up from the current penalty of 15 years to life in prison.
The bill, modeled after Florida's Jessica Lunsford Act, also would make attempted sexual assaults on a child first-degree felonies punishable by 15 years to life in prison. In Utah, anyone 14 or under is considered a child. Under Utah's indeterminate sentencing, judges order prison terms in a range of years - such as one to 15 years for a second-degree felony. Once the perpetrator goes to prison, the Board of Pardons and Parole decides when the term ends.
Wimmer's new proposal would allow the judicial system some flexibility in sentencing child sex offenders - something for which other Jessica's Laws across the country have come under fire. Under the bill, Utah's judges can deviate from the minimum sentence when there is a compelling reason.
The bill is not expected to meet opposition in the Senate, said Wimmer.
Mark Lunsford, father of Jessica Lunsford, spoke at the Capitol on Thursday in favor of Wimmer's bill. His 9-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by convicted repeat sex offender John Couey in 2005.
Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped in 2002 and later found alive, also endorsed Wimmer's bill Thursday.