MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WTVY) – Alabama Governor Kay Ivey put pen to paper on a new law that expands the state’s death penalty to include those that commit sex crimes against children.
“For too long, the most vulnerable of our society have lacked the most stringent legal protection from child predators,” said Governor Ivey after signing the Child Predator Death Penalty Act into law on Thursday. “Alabama now joins just a handful of states imposing the toughest penalty possible for child predators. Those who target the youngest among us for the vilest crimes will soon be met with the harshest punishment under the law.”
Both chambers of the Alabama Legislature passed the act overwhelmingly last week, with the House voting 73-6 to approve it and the Senate voting 33-1 in favor to send it to Ivey’s desk.
The Child Predator Death Penalty Act, sponsored by State Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, and State Sen. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, strengthens criminal penalties in the state for those that are found guilty of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and/or first-degree sexual assault of victims under the age of 12.
Any of those three now are considered capital offenses in the state, punishable up to death.
“Alabama has taken decisive action to ensure that the most horrific offenses committed against minors face the maximum punishment our legal system permits,” said Rep. Simpson. “This law sends a clear message that we will not stand by while young lives are shattered. Those who commit such unspeakable crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“We are putting these sick individuals on notice that a cell on death row awaits them if they abuse the most innocent and defenseless among us,” said Sen. Weaver. “Alabama now has zero tolerance for those who prey on our children.”
The new law will become effective in Alabama on October 1, 2026.
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