safeguarding our children

In speaking with family and friends who work or have worked in the prison system, I’ve learned something deeply disturbing, convicted pedophiles are often given lenient sentences and special treatment behind bars. This is unacceptable and a clear sign that our justice system is failing to protect the most innocent among us: our children.

If elected, I will introduce a focused, no-nonsense bill to fix this problem, fewer than ten pages long and written in plain language so the American people can understand it. My legislation will set a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life in federal prison for anyone convicted of pedophilia. Under current federal law, offenders must serve at least 85% of their sentence, meaning they would spend a minimum of 21 years behind bars, unable to harm another child.

The bill will also end the special treatment these offenders receive inside prisons. They will be placed in general population, not isolated or protected. Justice means accountability, not comfort. If any offender is ever released and reoffends, the punishment will be life in prison without the possibility of parole.

I understand there are risks for these individuals in the general population, but those risks are a direct result of their actions, not society’s responsibility. Our duty is to protect law-abiding citizens, not shield predators from the consequences of their crimes.

Our Founding Fathers believed justice must be firm, moral, and guided by principle. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 74, the law must “temper mercy with the public good.” The Anti-Federalists agreed that leniency without justice “invites wickedness and weakens the authority of law.” Both sides understood that a society unwilling to protect its children is a society in decline.

My stance is simple, protect our children, hold predators fully accountable, and ensure justice is served without exception or favoritism.