Death penalty for rape of child a step closer

Death penalty for rape of child a step closer ---- Senate committee passed bill advocated by Gov. Matt Blunt. A Senate committee passed a bill today granting judges and juries the power to sentence someone to death for forcibly raping or sodomizing a child younger than 12. The senators briefly considered two separate amendments -- one requiring DNA evidence and the other making the death penalty only applicable for prior sexual offenders -- but decided against creating a litmus test for a death sentence. The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence passed the bill by a 6-1 vote. The bill, introduced by Sen. Jack Goodman, R- Mount Vernon, would add the death penalty as an option, but also allow a sentence of life without parole for such convicts. Criminals convicted of raping or sodomizing a child are currently required to spend a minimum 30 years in prison, after the General Assembly toughened penalties for those crimes in 2006. Death penalty bill: http://www.senate.mo.gov/08info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=148089