Convicted pedophiles could face much darker future with GOP-backed bill: 'Can't rehabilitate a predator'
Rep. Luna will also introduce a bill increasing penalties against rapists
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is slated to introduce a bill this week that would raise the federal minimum for sexual abusers of children to the death penalty or life in prison, the congresswoman told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
"One of my big platforms has been: how do you combat child trafficking, just with everything happening in our country? And it seems like there's been this obviously massive issue here in the states with consumption of whether it's child pornography and/or just attacks really on kids. And in honor of sexual assault prevention month, we actually want to introduce legislation," Luna told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week.
Called the "No Repeat Child Sex Offenders Act," the bill would amend a U.S. code that states anyone who "knowingly transports any individual in interstate or foreign commerce" to engage in prostitution or sexual activity "shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bill would strike the language that an offender be "imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both," and replace it with stronger penalties: "and punished by death or imprisoned for life."
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna outside a House Republican Conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 10, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"It's absurd to me, not only as a new mom, but also if you just look at some of the federal statutes, that there's not more strict punishments for people that are doing this," Luna said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Florida congresswoman added that she, similar to others across the nation, believe child predators cannot be rehabilitated, and would reoffend when back on the streets.
"I have the firm belief, which I think many of my colleagues also hold, that you can't rehabilitate a predator. And so we have to increase the federal minimums. And as you see, it's pretty simple text. It's maybe a page and a half, but it will increase the federal minimums to death penalty or life in prison," Luna said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prison inmates wearing firefighting boots line up for breakfast in Yucaipa, California, Nov. 6, 2014. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which works to reduce the likelihood of sexual abuse. Luna said that in addition to her bill raising the federal minimum for abusers of children, she’s also introducing a bill that would increase the federal minimums for rape to 30 years, as well as another bill that increases the penalties for those in possession of child pornography.
"I am also introducing a bill this week regarding rape. It is absurd that rapists can get off after a few years of ‘good’ behavior after destroying lives. I will also be asking to increase the federal minimum," Luna posted on X on Saturday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The skyline of Washington, D.C., including the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and National Mall, Jan. 29, 2010. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Luna’s bills come as some states and cities, such as in California or New York, have seen an increase in prostitution in broad daylight on bustling streets. Experts have previously told Fox News Digital that the immigration crisis and lax laws have likely caused the spike in brazen prostitution, which also often includes human trafficking and the trafficking of children. Luna said her bill raising the penalties against child sexual assault includes so-called "Johns" who hire underage girls.
"Anyone who is even going to consider exploiting someone like this – and you can't tell me that they don't know that these people are trafficked or that they don't know that that's a young child – but the fact is, is that, if you're knowingly doing this, you have to be held accountable," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's pretty black and white," she said.
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna attends a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on the border crisis in the Rayburn Building on Feb. 7, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Luna compared rape to murder, saying the assault of a child destroys the victim's life, as well as the lives of family members. She’s hopeful Democrats will join her in passing the bill, calling it a nonpartisan effort, though some Democrats might not agree with the legislation due to opposition to the death penalty.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think that this does speak to a deeper issue, in that, whether it's issues of rape or molestation that, you know, it destroys people's lives, and it's something that they carry with them for the rest of the time that they're adults. And so it can impact people, and we should be thinking of this very seriously," she said.
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Luna will introduce the bills Thursday in the House.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think that if you're really about protecting children… you have to have strict laws. And that's exactly why we've introduced it."