ATLANTA – State Representative Kevin Levitas (D- Atlanta) will pre-file legislation next week to strengthen Georgia’s child molestation law by making any forcible act of child molestation an aggravated act subject to stricter punishment.
Rep. Levitas said that current state law punishes as aggravated acts of child molestation those that “physically injure” the child and those involving sodomy, but it does not cover forcible acts where the child is not physically injured other than those instances concerning sodomy.
“We have a duty to protect children as best we can from those who would seek to harm them, and we have an equal duty to ensure that those predators who do harm children are appropriately punished under the law,” said Rep. Levitas. “It is difficult to imagine why we would not want to punish any forcible act of child molestation as an aggravated offense, even if the child-victim is not physically injured. Passage of this legislation would send a strong message that the citizens of Georgia will not tolerate pedophiles preying upon our children.”
Rep. Levitas’ bill will be assigned number and then referred to a House committee when the General Assembly convenes in January.
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Representative Kevin Levitas represents the citizens of District 82, which includes portions of DeKalb County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2005, and currently serves on the Judiciary Non-Civil, Science and Technology, Transportation, and Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committees.