WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley late yesterday introduced legislation that will further enhance the penalties for people convicted of crimes against children.
“We’ve heard stories of innocent children being victimized and abused by predatory criminals,” Grassley said. “With this new legislation, I want to send a strong signal to criminals that we won’t tolerate this behavior and a predator’s actions will have real, serious consequences.”
In 2005, Grassley introduced legislation named after Jetseta Gage, a 10-year old Cedar Rapids girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered by a registered sex offender. A modified version of “Jetseta’s Bill” was incorporated into the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety bill. “Jetseta’s Bill” created mandatory minimums of imprisonment for criminals who committed murder, kidnapping, or serious bodily harm against children.
“We made a good start in the Adam Walsh bill, but it’s not enough for people who commit these despicable crimes,” Grassley said.
The “Prevention and Deterrence of Crimes Against Children Act of 2008” increases mandatory minimum sentences for criminals who commit exploitation crimes against children, boosts penalties for certain crimes against children, controls the use of passports by convicted sex offenders, and strengthens the process for removing criminal aliens who commit sex offenses.
Details of the bill follow here.
Here’s a copy of Grassley’s prepared statement upon introduction of the bill.
Mr. President, I’ve come to the floor today to discuss an issue that has hit home over the last few years for all Americans, crimes against children. We’ve all heard stories of children, our most innocent population, being victimized and abused by predatory criminals. While it is true we’ve made great strides passing federal legislation against criminal predators, more work remains to be done. That is why I’m here today to introduce, “The Prevention and Deterrence of Crimes Against Children Act of 2008.” I am pleased to be joined by Senators Kyl and Vitter who have cosponsored this bill.
This is a very important bill that will protect our children from the vilest forms of abuse and will send a strong signal to criminals that we as a society won’t tolerate this behavior and that their predatory actions have real, significant consequences.
I would like to take a moment to talk about the murder of a girl from my home state of Iowa, Jetseta Marrie Gage. On March 24, 2005, Jetseta, a 10 year-old girl from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, went missing from her home. Within twelve hours of her disappearance, Iowa law enforcement arrested registered sex offender Roger Bentley for the crime. He had been previously convicted of committing lascivious acts with a minor.
Regrettably, this criminal served just over a year in prison for his previous sex crime conviction. Two days after her disappearance, an Amber Alert tip led officials to the location of Jetseta’s body. She was found stuffed in a cabinet in an abandoned mobile home. The autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted and suffocated with a plastic bag. I can’t help but wonder whether Jetseta would still be alive today had her killer received stricter penalties for his first offense. It breaks my heart to hear about cases like this, but it’s even more demoralizing when you know that it might have been prevented with adequate sentencing.
Last week, I honored two extraordinary law enforcement officers who helped put away another one of Jetseta’s abusers, James Bentley. Unbelievably, James Bentley is the brother of Roger Bentley who was responsible for Jetseta’s rape and murder. A year prior to her murder, James Bentley took nude photos of 9-year-old Jetseta and her 13-month-old little sister, Leonna.
After the child abuse prosecution of James Bentley stalled in the state court due to Sixth Amendment concerns, U.S. Postal Inspector Troy Raper and Cedar Rapids Police Department Investigator Charity Hansel followed up on child pornography allegations that eventually led to James Bentley’s conviction on federal child pornography charges.
These investigators worked tirelessly to find nine previous victims of James Bentley. Only two of the nine victims testified, but their courage and accounts of abuse by this man were very powerful. As a result, these testimonies influenced the District Court’s decision to use higher sentencing guidelines to put him away in federal prison for 100 years. I am truly thankful for the public service that Inspector Troy Raper and Investigator Charity Hansel have done for Iowa’s kids.
In doing our part, we in Congress have not sat idly by. Two years ago we passed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. This important legislation made great strides in protecting America’s children against violent sexual predators. Among its many components, this Act standardized the national sex offender registry, eliminated the statute of limitations for sex crimes against children, provided grants for the electronic devices used for monitoring sex offenders, and established more severe criminal punishments for certain crimes committed by sex offenders.
As part of the Adam Walsh Act, we were able to include the Jetseta Gage Assured Punishment for Violent Crimes Against Children amendment. The amendment created mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for criminals who committed murder, kidnapping, or serious bodily harm against children.
We are on the right path, but I still say this is still not enough punishment for people who commit these despicable crimes. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done on this serious issue.
This bill will help change this by protecting children in four ways. It will increase mandatory minimum sentences, boost penalties for certain crimes against children, control the use of passports by convicted sex offenders, and strengthen the process for removing criminal aliens who commit sex offenses.
The first section of the bills increases the penalties for child pornography offenses and elevates the mandatory minimum punishment for criminals who commit exploitation crimes against children. I know that some of my colleagues have concerns about mandatory minimums, especially in the context of drug sentences. I understand that concern, but in light the Supreme Court’s decision in the Booker case, something must be done to insure that sexual predators receive the types of sentences appropriate for their crimes.
In Booker, the Court held that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines are no longer mandatory, thus federal judges have unfettered discretion in sentencing. I am very worried judges are not doing their job to protect children. As a matter of fact, Deputy Attorney General Laurence E. Rothenberg testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last year that, since the Booker decision, federal judges have significantly increased the number of downward departures for those convicted of possession of child pornography.
To counter this trend, this bill establishes the following mandatory minimums for exploitation crimes against children: 1) where a crime involves child pornography, the offender will receive from 20 years to life; 2) where the crime deals with sexual exploitation of a minor by a parent or guardian, the offender will receive no less than 3 years to life.
The second section of the bill increases the penalties for child sex trafficking and child prostitution. The penalties for these crimes need to be adjusted to adequately reflect the gravity of these crimes and the damage they do to children.
The third section of the bill will ensure harsh penalties for criminals convicted of child sex offenses resulting in death, repeated child sex crimes, and forcible rape of a child. These crimes involve the most violent types of sex offenders and justice for these crimes should be dealt out with the strongest available prison sentences.
The final section of the bill has to do with not permitting these sex offenders to travel outside the country. If we know someone is a convicted child molester, we have the responsibility to not allow them travel to Asia or Europe or anywhere to exploit or harm other kids. The bill provides for the following: 1) when the offender has been convicted of a sex offense, the issuance of a passport shall be refused 2) if a passport has already been issued, the use of the passport may be restricted if the passport was used in the furtherance of the sex offense; and lastly, 3) any alien convicted of a sex offense shall be placed immediately in removal proceedings.
The provisions of this bill are designed to protect our children by locking up violent sexual predators. I doubt that the members of this body, many of whom have young children of their own, will have any objections to ensuring that violators of crimes against children receive tougher penalties for their acts.
It is unfortunate that it took the murder of girls like Jetseta Gage for a law with severe penalties to be proposed, but I strongly believe that a vote for this bill could save the lives of children in the future.
We have an obligation as legislators to protect our citizens, including our most vulnerable populations. We have an obligation as adults to protect our youth. We have a commitment as parents to protect our children and ensure that they are given the opportunity to grow up free from the dangers that violent sex offenders pose. I urge my colleagues to join me and Senator Kyl in strengthening our laws so that no child becomes the victim of a repeat offender.
I yield the floor.
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