Crime - Child predator sentencing

Courtney Keeton
IGS 233B
1st blog
Crime
http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3520178&page=1
Regarding my topic if crime, I found an article on abcnews.com about a man being sentenced to death for brutally raping and killing a 9 year old girl. As depressing as this article and story is, the reason that I decided to post and talk about it is because sexual assault hits close to home. Thankfully I have not experienced it first hand, but a few people very close to me have.
I’m finding this article at the end of the story. John Evander Couey has been sentenced with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 9 year old Jessica Lunsford. The article states that Couey, a neighbor, burglarized the Lunsford home to kidnap young Jessica. After rapping her, he hid her in his closet for days, and after the police began to get suspicious, buried her alive to keep from getting caught. After a mass search and rescue, Jessica’s body was found in Couey’s yard, not 150 feet away from her own home.
As unfortunate as this story is, the best thing that could have happened did. The laws for child predators/sexual offenders were tightened. Jessica’s father, Mark Lunsford, had a new law passed, Jessica’s Law, that now requires mandatory minimum sentencing and all adults convicted of sexual assault must be electronically monitored for the duration of their lives.
Truthfully, aside from Jessica’s unfortunate death, I am happy about how this story ended (although it never really ends for her poor parents who have to live their lives without their daughter knowing that her last few days of life were hell). But the sick bastard who did this to her is going to pay for it (whether he dies or not [we all know what they do to pedophiles in prison]). Also, the law that was passed in her memory will hopefully help and save many other young lives.
Until next time…