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Bring Jessica's Law to Montana

| January 18, 2007 11:00 PM

Do you want to see Jessica’s Law a reality in our state? Now is the time to act. If you don’t know what Jessica’s Law is, basically it states that if a person is convicted of a sex crime to a child 12 and under, the convicted felon goes to jail for 25 years. This law keeps this felon off the streets for 25 years and prevents them from being able to commit another crime against another child. On Thursday Jan. 25, Mark Lundsford, the father of Jessica, will be in Helena to speak to the legislature telling his very compelling story of how Jessica was abducted from her home by a neighbor, an un-registered sex offender, repeatedly molested, and then after several days buried alive in his backyard. We have cases right here in the Flathead Valley of adults who perpetrate vile sex acts on children. No community is safe. There is no standard sentencing in our state on how much time these convicted felons will serve in jail. It is up to the discretion of the judge in the case. And it’s highly possibible that once these felons are out of jail and on the streets of Montana, another un-suspecting child could be molested. Jessica’s Law takes this criminal off the streets for 25 years, lessoning the chance that another child will be molested.

As a mother and a citizen, I am going to be on the steps of the Capitol Building in Helena on the 25th of January, to show support to Mark Lundsford and Jessica’s Law. If you believe that we should have this law in our state please come to Helena on the 25th and join me. Let’s show our state Congress that we want this law, no, that we demand this law be enacted in this session. Our children need you to help protect them.

25 years on the 25th.

Susan Taylor

Bigfork