TAMPA, FL — Governor Ron DeSantis signed two bills on Tuesday aimed at strengthening protections for children, enhancing penalties for sexual offenses, and ensuring dangerous offenders are held accountable.
DeSantis signed House Bill 445, known as Missy’s Law, and House Bill 1159.
The release states House Bill 445 strengthens Florida’s pretrial detention system for specified dangerous crimes. Under the law, individuals found guilty of or entering a plea for a dangerous crime will be immediately remanded into custody and held without bond while awaiting sentencing.
The legislation also expands the statutory list of dangerous crimes to include certain computer pornography and child exploitation offenses, ensuring individuals arrested for these crimes are not automatically released at their first appearance.
The legislation is named after Melissa "Missy" Mogle, a 5-year-old girl who was found unresponsive last May and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Her mother and stepfather, Chloe and Daniel Spencer, were charged with her death.
The governor also signed House Bill 1159, which enhances penalties and expands criminal offenses related to child sexual abuse material. The legislation increases penalties for using a child in a sexual performance, possessing and distributing abusive material, and creating generated sexual abuse material.
The bill establishes mandatory minimum prison sentences for certain offenses committed by adults and creates a life felony for the aggravated exploitation of a child under the age of 12. It also addresses emerging threats by criminalizing new forms of exploitation involving generated content.
"Justice demands that those who victimize innocent people face swift and meaningful consequences. Today, I signed two important bills to strengthen law and order in Florida by holding dangerous criminals and sex offenders accountable for their crimes. In Florida, we will always fight to protect our children and deliver justice for victims of crimes," DeSantis said.
The governor's office said the signing of the bills builds on previous actions to protect children, including increasing penalties for child exploitation crimes, strengthening sexual offender registration and monitoring requirements, and supporting law enforcement online sting operations targeting sexual predators.
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