MIAMI — Outraged over the recent kidnap-slayings of two girls, Florida lawmakers gave all but final approval Thursday to legislation that would keep sexual predators of children behind bars for life, or subject the criminals to round-the-clock electronic monitoring.
Experts called the legislation the most sweeping attempt by a state to prevent convicted child molesters from hurting more victims. The measure has enjoyed unusually broad backing, from Republican Gov. Jeb Bush to the American Civil Liberties Union. Bush has indicated that he would sign into a law a final version, expected after the Florida House approves the bill adopted Thursday by the state Senate. The House had passed a version Tuesday.
The Jessica Lunsford Act is named for a 9-year-old girl from the Gulf Coast who was found dead last month, and the suspect is a man known to be a sex offender. The bill would mandate a 25-year-to-life prison term for people convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12, and a lifetime of tracking by radio or satellite system if they were released.
"We want to make sure that with people with records, we have them under supervision, that we know where they are going to be every minute for the rest of their lives, as long as they are subject to the monitoring," said Republican state Rep. Charles Dean, sponsor of the House bill.
Dean is the former sheriff of Citrus County, where Jessica lived. The body of the Homosassa, Fla., girl was unearthed March 19 after John Evander Couey, a registered sex offender who hadn't told police he had moved, told authorities where to look.
According to the case file released Wednesday, Couey, 46, said he took the girl from her bed during a night in late February. She was sexually assaulted, and apparently buried alive inside two plastic trash bags, the documents show. The cause of death has been tentatively listed as asphyxiation.
When Jessica's body was found, her hands were bound, and she was clutching a purple stuffed dolphin.
Three weeks later, in the Tampa area, another known sex offender was charged with killing 13-year-old Sarah Michelle Lunde. David Onstott, who had dated her mother, has reportedly confessed to choking the girl to death, then dumping her body in a pond.
The cases, prominently covered by the media, galvanized the Florida Legislature into action.
"Everyone has a sense of sickness, disgust -- and a sense of fear for our children," Dean said by telephone from Tallahassee, the state capital.
