Florida sex predators to be tracked by satellite

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Convicted sexual predators in Florida could be imprisoned or tracked by satellite for the rest of their lives under a new law signed by Governor Jeb Bush.

The law, prompted by the recent murders of two young girls, requires sentences of 25 years to life in prison for sexual predators convicted of molesting children less than 12 years of age. Convicts serving less than life would wear a tracking device linked to global positioning systems until their death.

Flanked by relatives of the two slain girls, Bush signed into law the Jessica Lunsford Act, named after a 9-year-old Homosassa, Florida, girl who was abducted and murdered in March. John Evander Couey, a registered sex offender, has confessed to the killing, police say.

Weeks later, the body of 13-year-old Sarah Lunde was found in a pond near Ruskin, Florida. David Onstott, a registered sexual predator who lived nearby, has been charged with her death.

"Florida has some of the toughest laws in the country as it relates to sexual predators and sexual offenders," said Bush, the younger brother of US President George W. Bush. "This will make our laws even tougher. It is right and just that this is the case."

"Their daughters did not deserve the incredible treatment they received," Bush said. "Their deaths however, were not in vain."

The law also bolsters registration requirements, requires satellite tracking of existing offenders until their probation period is over and makes it a felony to harbour a sexual offender.

Lunde's older sister, Rebekah Lunde, told reporters following the bill signing that she would not dwell on whether the new law would have kept her sister alive, but said it brought hope from an otherwise tragic situation.

"Sarah can't come back but at least it might not happen to somebody else," she said.

- REUTERS