22 March 2010 :

The House Judiciary Committee rejected a bill that would have imposed the death penalty for the murder of a child who was sexually assaulted. The vote came during more than six hours of hearings on a number of other child predators bills. The Committee unanimously approved bill HB 254 that increases the prison sentence for second degree rape and sexual offense involving a victim under 13. If Gov. O’Malley signs HB 254 and a similar Senate Bill (SB 622) into law they will strengthen Jessica’s Law—named in honor of Jessica Lunsford—passed by the General Assembly in 2007. Jessica’s Law mandates 25-year mandatory minimum sentences for first degree child rape and molestation. The difference between first and second degree counts is use of a weapon or an accomplice. Jessica’s Law  takes the name after the 2005 case of  9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl kidnapped, raped and suffocated by a registered sex offender.