BOISE, ID – Under a bill headed to the Idaho House, adults who sexually abuse children age 12 and younger in Idaho could be sentenced to death.
Similar to his bill that stalled last year, House Bill 380, cosponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, would allow the death penalty in a new criminal charge the bill creates: aggravated lewd conduct with children age 12 and younger.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 blocked death penalties for child rape in Kennedy v. Louisiana. Florida passed a child rape death penantly law two years ago.
Skaug’s bill would also add mandatory minimum prison sentences for cases of aggravated lewd conduct with minors — which would only apply to children age 16 and below — that don’t meet the bill’s proposed criteria for death penalty eligibility.
The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee on Thursday advanced the bill to the House floor, where it could be voted on in the coming days.
“Idaho currently has some of the most lenient statutes for child molestation and child rape in the nation,” Skaug told the committee, which he chairs. “This legislation establishes a strong deterrent, making it clear Idaho will not tolerate these offenses.”
Expecting legal challenge, Rep. Skaug expects U.S. Supreme Court to rule differently
Bracing for a legal challenge to the bill, Skaug told lawmakers he expects the U.S. Supreme Court would rule differently.
“You can say, ‘Well, that’s unconstitutional, Bruce. Why would you bring that?’ Well, it was — according to a 5-4 decision in 2008. I don’t think that would be the case today,” Skaug, an attorney, told lawmakers. “That’s my professional opinion. That’s the opinion of many other attorneys.”
In an interview after the committee hearing, Skaug told the Sun that the death penalty would be rarely used under his bill.
“But when you read about the case in your paper … most people would say, ‘Yeah, this is the case. This one deserves (the) death penalty,’” he said.
To become law, Idaho bills must pass the House and Senate, and avoid the governor’s veto.
Idaho law only allows the death penalty in first-degree murder cases with aggravating circumstances.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed a bill into law that will make the Gem State the only state to use firing squads as its main execution method. Skaug also cosponsored that bill.
This is Skaug’s second attempt at child sex abuse death penalty bill
This year’s child sex abuse death penalty bill is Skaug’s second attempt at such a bill. Last year, a bill by Skaug and House Assistant Majority Leader Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, widely passed the House but never received a Senate committee hearing.
Skaug and Tanner’s new bill this year — cosponsored by eight other Idaho lawmakers — would establish the new crime, and mandatory minimums criminal sentences. For instance, the bill’s proposed mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated lewd conduct with minors under age 16 would carry at least 25 years in prison.
Lewd conduct against minors age 12 and younger would only be eligible for the death penalty if cases involve at least three aggravating factors.
The bill spells out more than a dozen aggravating factors, including already being found guilty of a crime that requires sex offender registration, committing lewd conduct against the same victim at least three separate times, being in a position of trust or having “supervisory or disciplinary power over the victim,” penetration with a penis, kidnapping, human trafficking the child, torture, using force or coercion, and being armed with a weapon.
Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, was among 10 House Democrats who voted against the bill in the House last year. But he backed this year’s version in committee Thursday.
“Last year I did vote against this. This year I’m going to move it forward. I don’t think there’s any excuse to be messing around with kids under 12 years of age,” Gannon told the committee.
The committee’s other two Democrats, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel and Rep. Chris Mathias, both from Boise, opposed advancing the bill in committee.