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Home / MO: Death Penalty For Raping Child A Step CloserMO: Death Penalty For Raping Child A Step Closer
Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 April 2008 10:29 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 22 April 2008 10:29
A Senate committee passed a bill Monday granting judges and juries the power to sentence someone to death for forcibly raping or sodomizing a child younger than 12.
The senators briefly considered two separate amendments — one requiring DNA evidence and the other making the death penalty only applicable for prior sexual offenders — but decided against creating a litmus test for a death sentence.
The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence passed the bill by a 6-1 vote, with Democratic Sen. Jolie Justus of Jackson County casting the lone vote of opposition.
Gov. Matt Blunt, who stumped for the legislation earlier Monday in Springfield, called a violent sex crime against a child one of “the worst crimes that any criminal can commit.”