Bryson Accuses Bredesen of Blocking Child Predator Bill

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson says he wants stiffer penalties for molesters who kill their victims.

Bryson, an outgoing member of the state senate, cosponsored a bill this year that would have made it a capital offense to kill a child during rape or attempted rape. The measure passed the Senate by a unanimous vote, but died in the House during the budgeting process. Bryson claims it failed because Governor Phil Bredesen thought it was too expensive.

“When this Governor says, no, I’m not going to fund capital punishment for child molestors, unfortunately it makes it very, very difficult to pass it through a Democratically-controlled House, which is where this bill died.”

If he’s elected governor, Bryson says he’ll make sure the measure is revived.

But Bredesen’s campaign spokesman, Will Pinkston, denies the claim that the governor was against the bill, calling it –quote- “ludicrous and dishonest.” And he points out that the power to make budget allocations and pass bills belongs to the legislature, not the governor.

Pinkston says Governor Bredesen has a strong track record on the issue.

“Under Phil Bredesen’s leadership, Tennessee state government has done more to fight child sex crimes than it did during the previous decade.”

Specifically, Pinkston says Bredesen helped extend the statute of limitations on sex crimes, made investments to help law enforcement capture sexual predators, oversaw the launch of a pilot program that uses Global Positioning Satellites to track convicted sex offenders after they leave prison, and signed a law that redefines the sexual exploitation of minors statute.