Sharing – Killing disclosure: The unspoken effect of the death penalty for child rapists in Louisiana
I’ve gotten some grief online for suggesting that murdering people who abuse children isn’t what the victim needs. Maybe, if you hear it from an expert, you’ll understand what I feel as a survivor who wouldn’t have told anyone if I knew it could lead to the death of another person, even my abuser.
https://lailluminator.com/2026/02/02/death-penalty-child-rape/
As someone who works closely with survivors and within Louisiana’s legal system, I want to be clear: the death penalty will not protect children. It will silence them.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Kennedy was not abstract nor academic. It was grounded in the recognition that capital punishment for child rape carries profound risks, including discouraging reporting and increasing the likelihood of lethal violence against victims. The court explicitly acknowledged child sexual abuse is most often committed by someone the child knows and trusts, not a stranger.
Personally, being the reason someone in my family died would have been much more than I could have handled. As Morgan points out, though, you also have to consider the risk to victims. With that much at stake, many of us might not have survived.
You’re causing more harm to the victim of child abuse in the pursuit of your idea of justice. Hurting the victim is not my definition of justice, and it’s clear that the death penalty, as satisfying as it might feel to adults, is hurting the victim. Can’t we try, for once, not to cause more harm?
