Mississippi child sex abuse now punishable by death penalty

New legislation creates ‘Capitol Sexual Battery’ charge, effective July 1

MISSISSIPPI (WLBT)—Mississippi's most severe criminal punishment now applies to the most severe crimes against children, under a new state law that took effect July 1.

Senate Bill 2821 creates a charge called Capitol Sexual Battery, which is punishable by the death penalty. The law applies only to cases occurring on or after July 1.

Under the new law, sexual battery against a child under the age of 12 or an attempt to commit such an act that injures the child’s sexual organs, makes a defendant eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecutors must choose to seek that sentence.

To impose a death sentence, jurors must unanimously find at least two aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt.

If fewer than eight jurors vote for death, the jury’s recommendation becomes life imprisonment.

The bill also updates state law to ensure life-without-parole sentences under this act are not parole-eligible.

Any death sentence handed down under the new law would receive automatic review by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Sen. Jeremy England, who co-authored the bill, said the law is intended to send a clear message.

“If you commit a crime of this nature, we’re going to put you up for the death penalty in Mississippi,” England said.

England said the push to apply capital punishment to these crimes reflects how seriously the state views them.

“There has been this drive to bring back capital punishment for those crimes, such as the death penalty and life imprisonment. The reason I think is because those are such shock of conscience kind of crimes that we want to send a message to criminals and to society that we are not going to tolerate these kinds of crimes,” England said.

Co-author Sen. Daniel Sparks said support for the measure crosses party lines.

“It’s unfortunate that these crimes occur at all. I do believe the people in the state of Mississippi across party lines cannot tolerate such behavior, and, again, it’s not behavior that’s acceptable in a civilized society,” Sparks said.

England acknowledged not all residents support capital punishment, even for crimes of this nature.

“So, obviously, there is a crowd out there that doesn’t like the death penalty, and look, they are not going to like the death penalty for any instance. If you ask me, this is a prime example of why we do have the death penalty, which is for this type of crime,” England said.

Sparks added: “There are certain things in civilized society that people should not debate, and that is the sexual abuse of a child, certainly a child under the age of 12.”

Sparks also noted a broader concern about how government addresses crime.

“It’s sad commentary on where we are as a people. The biggest problem we have in government, we treat symptoms of problems and not the actual problem,” Sparks said.

Source: wlbt.com, Christopher Fields, July 10, 2026

"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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