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By BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Some repeat sex offenders would be eligible for the death penalty under a bill being proposed by a newly elected state lawmaker.
The effort by Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, is part of a slew of bill requests he has filed that would toughen penalties against those who commit crimes against children. Wimmer was elected Nov. 7 and has yet to be sworn into office.
One bill would automatically qualify those convicted of homicide against a child younger than 14 for the death penalty while another would do the same for those who are twice-convicted of first degree felony sex abuse against a child younger than 14.
Utah would become the sixth state to make the death penalty an option for certain sex offenses against children if the measure is approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature in the session that begins Jan. 15.
"If society can't protect the most innocent among us, who deserves protection? Nobody in my opinion," Wimmer said.
Oklahoma and South Carolina passed similar sex offender legislation earlier this year, joining Louisiana, Montana and Florida.
No one convicted of a sex offense has been executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment 30 years ago. One inmate is on death row in Louisiana following his 2003 conviction for raping an 8-year-old girl.
But legal scholars have questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty for a crime not involving murder.
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the death penalty for a Georgia man convicted of raping an adult woman, describing it as "an excessive penalty for the rapist who, as such, does not take human life."
Advocates against capital punishment say that applying the death penalty could lead to more rape victims being killed. There would be an incentive to kill the witness without additional penalty, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C., based Death Penalty Information Center.
"It's a way to endanger victims," he said by telephone Saturday.
Dieter said that often sex crimes against children involve family members. He said invoking the death penalty could make it less likely that a crime would be reported.
"The likelihood of a cild testifying against a father or uncle isn't greater and they may never come forward. You don't really protect the victim. You don't help eliminate this crime. You may be making it worse," he said.
Instead, lawmakers should focus on preventive efforts and rehabilitation, Dieter said.
Wimmer, a West Valley City police officer, said he believes in second chances for criminals. But he said sex offenders don't deserve a third chance.
"If you offend again, you've proven yourself to be an absolute threat to society, an absolute predator," he said. "You've proven yourself someone who has an absolute lack of respect for God's children. I believe that should qualify you for the death penalty."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
