The discovery of a horrifying alleged child sex trafficking ring involving multiple victims and adult predators in Bibb County has some state lawmakers renewing their call for the death penalty for child rapists.
Taking advantage of and taking the innocence of a child under the age of 12 is among the worst things a person can do, Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, said Thursday at a press conference at the State House.
“Because it is one of the worst offenses, it deserves the worst of the worst punishments,” Simpson said.
Simpson plans to file a bill similar to one he sponsored this year to allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty when an adult is convicted of rape or sodomy of a child under 12.
In July, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of seven people in connection with an underground bunker where as many as 10 child victims were raped and tortured, some over years, al.com has reported.
One of the alleged victims was 3.
Sen. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, will sponsor the bill in the Senate. She represents Bibb County.
“I defy anyone, anywhere, with any conscience or any sense of morals to look at this case and others like it and argue that the death penalty is not appropriate,” Weaver said.
She said what happened to the children in Bibb County was torture like most people can’t imagine. She’s asked Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger to prioritize the legislation when the Legislature meets in early January.
Simpson’s bill this year passed the House on an 86-5 vote, but died in the Senate without a final vote.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 ruled that the death penalty for child rape is unconstitutional. Justices in the 5-4 decision in the case arising from Louisiana stated that the death penalty is not a “proportional punishment” for the crime and would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Legislators like Simpson want the court to revisit that decision if a new law in Alabama or another state is challenged in court.
Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, Oklahoma and Arkansas have recently passed similar legislation.
“There are other states doing it now, so it’s not unusual,” said Simpson, an assistant DA in Mobile County and formerly in Baldwin County who has prosecuted pedophiles, including those with victims under age 6.
Rape was once a capital crime in Alabama, Attorney General Steve Marshall said at the press conference. He’s supportive of the legislation.
“‘Horrific’ I don’t think does justice as a word for what we’ve learned, at least initially, has taken place in Bibb County,” Marshall said at the press conference.
Later, Gov. Kay Ivey also voiced her support on social media.
If the bill becomes law, the suspects in the Bibb County case can’t be tried under it because it wasn’t in effect at the time of the alleged crimes, Simpson explained.
Democrats who voted against Simpson’s bill this year argued against the death penalty in general. In other states, opponents have argued that putting young victims through a trial where the punishment could be death is too traumatic.
There are currently 155 people on Alabama’s death row. Five of them have been there since the 1980s.
