Proposed Tennessee law would broaden death penalty eligibility in child rape cases

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A proposed law could mean the death penalty for more child rapists in Tennessee.

The legislation adds circumstances under which a rapist could be executed, like filming the attack.

“It’s another tool,” the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Greg Martin, said.

A new bill at the Tennessee State Capitol is aimed at making it easier for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against child rapists. Lawmakers said it builds on a law passed just last year, one that first opened the door for juries to consider the death penalty in some child rape cases.

“There is nothing that is comparable to taking the innocence of a child and wrecking their life,” Martin said. “It’s just unimaginable. I don’t know of a crime that could be worse to be honest with you.”

Right now, someone convicted of raping a child under 12 can face a 40 to 60-year prison sentence, and in the most severe cases, the possibility of the death penalty. But the new bill expands the circumstances under which prosecutors could pursue execution. It’s an addition that Martin said gives clarity to Tennessee district attorneys.

“It didn’t necessarily give the definition of what an aggravated circumstance is, and so this bill helps gives definition to that. I think that’s why we’ve not seen any prosecutions in this space,” Martin said.

Under the proposed law, prosecutors would have more legal options to seek the death penalty if the case involved certain factors including: the rape of a child younger than four, incest, kidnapping, filming or photographing the assault, or drugging the victim.

“I think this is something that is going to send a clear message to the sexual deviants and the predators of our society that live in the state of Tennessee: is that there will be no sanctuary, there will be no place to hide, that Tennessee is serious about protecting the most vulnerable,” Martin said.

The second session of the 114th General Assembly is scheduled to convene at noon on Jan. 13, 2026.

Source: wkrn.com, Lexi Wilson, December 12, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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