The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill eliminating sentence reductions for 31 sexually-related offenses. These offenses were largely related to rape, assault, sex trafficking, and a variety of crimes against children. The Senate hastened to pass the bill on Wednesday after the House passed it on Tuesday. The General Assembly voted unanimously in favor of the bill.
As amended, the bill established that there would be no release eligibility for the following offenses: female genital mutilation, felony domestic assault, sex trafficking, advertising minor sexual abuse, rape, aggravated and non-aggravated sexual battery, aggravated statutory rape, felony indecent exposure, patronizing or promoting prostitution, public indecency, continuous child molestation, sexual battery by an authority figure, felony solicitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, statutory rape by an authority figure, promoting travel for prostitution, unlawful photography of a child under 13, observation without consent, incest, aggravated and non-aggravated child abuse or child neglect and endangerment, child pornography, sale and distribution of child-like sex dolls, and aggravated and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. It would also ensure no release eligibility for conspiracy, criminal attempt, or solicitation of any of the above offenses.
This bill wouldn’t eliminate the ability of those offenders to earn sentence reduction credits entirely. The credits may be applied to other perks, like reduced security classification – just not the reduction of their court-imposed sentence.
Those provisions were part of an amendment that rewrote the bill. Originally, the legislation required lifelong community supervision for individuals convicted of continuous child sex abuse.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Senate Speaker Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) were the legislation sponsors.
No updated fiscal impact was submitted for this version of the bill.
The bill now heads to the governor for final approval. If adopted, the legislation would go into effect on or after July 1 of this year.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
THANK YOU WOLF WOMAN. NO MORE 30+ YEARS ON DEATH ROW EITHER, GOW TO THE TEXAS SYSTEM.
THESE ARE THE MOST REPEATED CRIMES. TE TN GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS STUPID, MAKING MORE VICTIMS.
Thank you, Tennessee Legislators!
Crimes against children, especially sexual abuse, are the lowest form human activity. Children are our most vulnerable members of society and to have them preyed upon by adults is pure Evil. If I had my way, the punishment for these crimes would be swift and permanent.