Southwest
WARNING: Lawmaker's bill mandates automatic death penalty for child sex crimes following Epstein files release
WARNING: GRAPHIC REFERENCES TO SEX CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN
EXCLUSIVE: A Republican lawmaker in New Mexico introduced a bill Friday that would mandate an automatic death sentence for people convicted of certain child sex crimes.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, state Rep. Stefani Lord, who has advocated strengthening existing laws to protect children from sexual predators, said she was inspired to introduce HB 109 following the recent release of documents related to a lawsuit against the late Jeffrey Epstein’s former lover and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that included the names of many high-profile people.
“When I got elected, I was horrified that every time the legislature tried to pass a soft on crime bill, I would say, ‘Well, can we exempt pedophiles and rapists?’ And every time the Democrats said no,” Lord told Fox.
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“I was horrified, so I went back and said, ‘You know what? There is no cure for pedophilia. There’s no cure for these rapists. So we might as well do like Florida did and give them the death penalty,’” she said, referencing Florida’s law implemented last year that expanded capital punishment to include people who sexually abuse children.
If passed, Lord’s bill would implement an automatic death sentence for people convicted of a first degree felony for aggravated criminal sexual penetration of a child and a first degree felony for criminal penetration of a child.
It would also require the death penalty for people convicted of a first degree felony for human sexual trafficking against a victim under 18 years of age.
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Additionally, the bill would change the definition of “criminal sexual penetration of a child in the first degree” to apply to all children under the age of 18, instead of the current age of 13, and mandates that anyone who commits criminal sexual penetration of a child in the first degree is guilty of a first degree felony for criminal sexual penetration of a child, providing for the death penalty.
Republican New Mexico state Rep. Stefani Lord and the late-convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (New Mexico Legislature/ Getty Images)
“There is no life. There’s no option for life in prison. You rape a child that is under 18, then you get the death penalty,” Lord said.
She explained that the changes to the law were especially important to New Mexicans because some of the most horrific allegations of sexual abuse against Epstein allegedly occurred on his ranch, known as the “Zorro Ranch,” which is located in a rural area south of Santa Fe and east of Albuquerque.
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Lord also noted that the late-former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, was named in the final set of Epstein-related documents released earlier this week, which revealed the plaintiff in the lawsuit had accused the former governor, along with others, of sex trafficking her in a 2016 deposition.
“The consequences of that would be the death penalty,” she added.
Then-Democrat presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson addresses casino workers during a rally on March 23, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
When asked if the bill had enough support to pass through the Democrat-controlled state legislature, Lord said she hoped her Republican colleagues wouldn’t be “squeamish,” but that she doubted any Democrat would support it.
“I would gladly hand this bill over to a Democrat if they could get this passed. I have no problem with that. I don’t need to take credit for it. The issue is we need to stop the sex trafficking. We need to stop that. There’s so much leniency against pedophiles and people that rape children. This needs to stop,” she said.
“We have to draw the line. We have to draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough. If you do this, you’re going to get the death penalty,” she added.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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