Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
John Daley ReportingMark Lunsford, Father of Jessica Lunsford: "I'll never go to her wedding. I'll never see her children. I'll never see her graduate. I'll never see her in a prom dress."
A passionate plea for tougher laws to protect kids from sexual predators. A major campaign is gearing up to pass a new state law, Jessica's law, which would set tougher criminal penalties for sex offenders who target children.
State prosecutors and Utah's Attorney General maintains Utah already has some of the nation's toughest laws against child sex offenders. But a national campaign wants to make them even tougher.
No doubt most people would support tough penalties for sex offenders who harm a child. The question is, are Utah's current laws enough? Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is putting the heat on the state to make changes, and so are a group of people who held a press conference at the Capitol today.
But a group of prosecutors and the Utah Attorney General's Office say Utah's current laws are already tough and have been very effective.
No doubt most people would support tough penalties for sex offenders who harm a child. The question is: are Utah's current laws enough?
A group, including Mark Lunsford, gathered today at the Capitol to say "No." Lunsford is the father of Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped, raped and killed in Florida in February. The man charged in the case is a registered sex offender living across the street rather than where state records had him living.
The group wants Utah to pass Jessica's Law, which would require sex offenders to wear ankle bracelets and would set mandatory minimum life in prison sentences for repeat offenders, and life plus the possibility of a death penalty for murderers.
A group of prosecutors and the Utah Attorney General's Office say Utah's current laws have been very effective, but they say some measures like the ankle bracelets deserve exploring.
Mark Lunsford, Father of Jessica Lunsford: "It's not fair to the people to wait for something to happen before you make changes. When you do, people like me, lost their children like this and this is how we remember our children, by naming a law after them."
Paul Boyden, Statewide Assn. of Prosecutors: "A lot of things they're looking at are very interesting and we're looking at them. We're consulting with people from other states and looking at a lot of good ideas."
Representative Paul Ray says he doesn't yet have the specific language ready for his bill, but says he will before the legislative session starts in January.
Meantime, the effort to get Jessica's Law passed in every state has one high-profile promoter, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.
