Michael Devlin faces 74 life prison sentences plus 95 years for kidnapping and sexually abusing two boys.

State Senator John Loudon says the prosecutors should have had a an even tougher penalty to use. He’s renewing his effort next year to get a law passed that says anyone convicted of kidnapping and sexually abusing a child will get life in prison without parole. Or death. His bill went nowhere this year but that was before court proceedings outlined the depth of Michael Devlin’s depravity.

Loudon says prosecutors were frustrated by present law that forced them to file charge after charge against Devlin to guarantee that he’d never be on the streets again.

If passed, the law would be the only law in Missouri that authorizes execution for a crime in which no life is taken. But Loudon argues the taking of a life is a subjective matter—-and what people like Devlin take a lot from their victims. .

He says families ultimately would have a lot to say in such cases. He says the death penalty should be available for prosecutors and families to discuss. He says the death penalty would be only for the worst cases. Loudon says that if he was a prosecutor, he would consider Devlin one of those "worst cases."

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