A month after making firing squads the Gem State’s primary method of execution, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) passed a law last week granting judges and juries the ability to sentence convicted pedophiles to the death penalty.
Republican Gov. Brad Little said upon ratifying the legislation making child rape a death penalty offense, “Just like capital murder destroys lives, aggravated sexual abuse of a young child devastates victims and families for generations. The sexual abuse of children is sickening and evil, and perpetrators convicted of these crimes deserve the ultimate punishment.”
Idaho House Bill 380, sponsored by Republican state Reps. Bruce Skaug and Josh Tanner, sets a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 25 years, with the possibility of life in prison, for the molestation of a minor ages 13-16 by an adult if two of 14 aggravating factors are present.
Aggravating factors include whether:
- the victim was kidnapped;
- the pedophile cause great bodily harm to the victim;
- the pedophile was engaged in human trafficking;
- the pedophile was already a registered sex offender;
- the pedophile was in a position of trust, had a supervisory or disciplinary power over the victim, or at the time of the offense had parental/custodial authority over the child;
- the victim used coercion; and/or
- the victim was choked during the commission of the lewd conduct.
Alternatively, an adult pedophile found guilty of engaging in aggravated lewd conduct with a child 12 or under shall now be punished by life in prison or by death if a pair of similar factors are present. The list of aggravating factors in such cases also includes any form of penile penetration as well as repeat incidents involving the same victim.
‘Idaho will not tolerate these offenses.’
Idaho previously allowed the death penalty only in first-degree murder cases with aggravating factors.
Prior to its passage, Skaug told his colleagues on the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, “Idaho currently has some of the most lenient statutes for child molestation and child rape in the nation,” reported the Idaho Capital Sun.
“This legislation establishes a strong deterrent, making it clear Idaho will not tolerate these offenses,” added Skaug.
The legislation passed the state House unopposed. In the state Senate, however, three Democrats — Sens. Alison Rabe, Ron Taylor, and Melissa Wintrow — and two Republicans — Sens. Phil Hart and Daniel Foreman — voted against the bill.
Gov. Little noted in a April 1 statement, “I commend my partners in the Legislature for strengthening Idaho’s already powerful ‘tough on crime’ reputation among the state.”
The Idaho Capital Sun noted that Idaho lawmakers expect a legal challenge, given that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 2008 5-4 decision that sentencing a pedophile to death for raping a child is unconstitutional in cases where the victim was not killed.
Former Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion, “The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” and added that “in most cases justice is not better served by terminating the life of the perpetrator rather than confining him and preserving the possibility that he and the system will find ways to allow him to understand the enormity of his offense.”
Democratic state lawmakers around the country appear keen to soften penalties for those monsters who prey on children.
Colorado Democrats, for instance, voted in 2023 against a bill making indecent exposure to children a felony and killed another piece of legislation last year that would have mandated minimum sentences for predators who buy children for sexual exploitation.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom ratified legislation in 2020 that enabled judges to go easy on non-straight pedophiles convicted of sex crimes against teenage minors.
‘We really believe that part of a just society is to have appropriate punishment.’
Last year, California Democrats, state Sen. Scott Wiener in particular, unsuccessfully fought against Republican legislation that would impose harsher penalties against perverts who pay for sex with children. According to CBS News, Wiener, an LGBT activist, figured the legislation “could target the wrong people by punishing young adults in consensual relationships with minors.”
In March, Virginia Democrats killed legislation that would prevent sex offenders from loitering within state parks or places where they could find themselves around children, including near playgrounds, athletic field, day-care centers, or gymnasiums.
It’s a different story in red states such as Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho, where pedophiles now run the risk of death by acting on their sick desires.
In 2023, Florida passed a law imposing the death penalty for child rapists.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis stated, “We really believe that part of a just society is to have appropriate punishment. And so, if you commit a crime that is really, really heinous, you should have the ultimate punishment.”
Despite Democratic opposition, Tennessee Republicans successfully advanced House Bill 1663 last year, enabling trial judges and juries to put child rapists six feet under.
The legislation, ratified in May 2024 by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R), mandates either a sentence of death, imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole, or life imprisonment for an adult pedophile convicted of rape of a child ages 8-13. A pedophile convicted of aggravated rape of a child 8 or younger must now necessarily receive the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole.
Alabama appears poised to become the next state to add child rape to its list of capital offenses. The state House voted 86-5 in February for a bill that would allow the imposition of the death penalty in cases where an adult convict victimized a child under 12.
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