Before his sentencing in March 2025, a convicted child rapist asked for a judgment that would have set him free in 2027. The Kansas resident received 25 years with no chance of parole.
The reason? Jessica’s Law, which Kansas lawmakers passed in 2006.
Kansas was one of the first states to follow Florida’s initial enactment of Jessica’s Law 20 years ago in response to the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica “Jessie” Lunsford in Homosassa, Florida. Forty-four other states have followed, altering how America polices, punishes and paroles pedophiles.
Although the law differs in some details from state to state, it generally directs judges to sentence people convicted of sex crimes involving children to a minimum of 25 years. Jessica’s Law also monitors offenders’ movements after prison and strives to keep them away from places where children congregate, such as schools and parks.
Many policymakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges have protested key aspects of the law. They are particularly opposed to its strict minimum sentencing guidelines, which they’ve described as oversimplified and counterproductive.
Proponents, however, point to the law’s origins: Jessica’s February 2005 abduction, rape and murder by a repeat, convicted sex offender. They maintain the crime, which riveted the country for months and sent the third grader’s father, Mark, on a national child protection crusade, exposed deep-seated flaws in law enforcement and the legal system that made children around the country vulnerable to sexual assault.
Jessica’s Law remains mostly intact throughout the country. But it has come under scrutiny and has undergone changes. As a journalism professor who directed a documentary about Lunsford’s efforts to convince politicians to pass the law that bears his daughter’s name, I’ve kept up with its trials and tribulations.
Twenty years after Florida introduced the law, the jury is still out on whether America’s children are safer as a result.
In making “Jessie’s Dad,” I filmed Lunsford visiting state capitals and Capitol Hill and interviewed many of his allies and…
So, the dad saw the product of his effort held over the head of his own flesh and blood with a version he, in turn, advocated be put into place for others. Interesting how that works out…much like others who work so hard with fire and brimstone to pass laws only to have them turnabout and possibly bite those who authored them.
I feel for the man, but one needs to seriously consider in the halls of elected officials what would they think and feel if it came back to hang over their head or the head of those they know and love. No elected official does at the most critical time…when it is being considered to become a law.
Maybe that is a new tactic to be used…ask the elected official to consider how they would feel and what they would think if this new law was used against them or someone they know and love, whether family or friend. I want to believe they would stop and reconsider what they are doing, but most would say it would never happen…until it does. Trying to quietly minimize or avoid it altogether is hypocritical when they had the chance.