Death Penalty For Child Rape?

[Catty1]

Part of that article raises some points about the effect the death of the rapist might have on the young victims...yet another way for the offender to bribe them "if you tell anyone, I'll die and it will be your fault."

Thoughts?

Some victims of child rape also support Kennedy. Jody Plauche, now 35, who was raped and kidnapped as a child, says that the possibility of the death penalty adds too much burden to the child.

"A child who's been raped has been through enough," he said.

He points out that the offenders are usually a trusted adult and he worries the children will feel "extra trauma" if they know that the offender might die if the child reports the crime.

Louisiana, Montana, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas are the six states that provide capital punishment for the rape of a child.

Eight other states and the federal government allow the death penalty for nonhomicide offenses such as treason, espionage, hijacking and kidnapping.

[columbine]

Part of that article raises some points about the effect the death of the rapist might have on the young victims...yet another way for the offender to bribe them "if you tell anyone, I'll die and it will be your fault."

Thoughts?

Given how often child rape is perpetrated by an immediate family member, that's definitely a problem. (Serial multiple child rapists are very high-profile cases, but their offenses are sparse compared to sibling/parent/uncle/grandparent etc. perps.)

The bigger problem with the death penalty in general is errors. Some new technology or evidence crops up that clears the accused/convicted, you can't just let them go. And child rapes have a history of taking forever to get reported.

[Twisterdog]

Slowly and painfully ... absolutely.

[Catty1]

Re: Post #14 - what about the effects of death penalty on the victim of the crime? Have a look as other perspectives would be interesting.