New Mexico lawmaker wants to automate death penalty for child sexual assault and trafficking

New Mexico state Rep. Stefani Lord (R) introduced a bill on Friday that would mandate a death penalty sentence for certain child sex crimes.

"When I got elected, I was horrified that every time the legislature tried to pass a soft-on-crime bill, I would say, ‘Well, can we exempt pedophiles and rapists?’ And every time the Democrats said no," Lord told Fox News.

"I was horrified, so I went back and said, 'You know what? There is no cure for pedophilia. There's no cure for these rapists. So we might as well do like Florida did and give them the death penalty,'" she said

The bill would apply to first-degree felony for aggravated criminal sexual penetration of a child, first-degree felony for criminal penetration of a child, as well as for child sex trafficking. The definition of "child" would change to under 18 instead of 13 and under, the current age.

Part of the impetus for the law is the fact that Jeffrey Epstein's "Zorro Ranch," where many of his most egregious crimes against children are alleged to have occurred, is in New Mexico.

Late New Mexico Gov.Bill Richardson (D) was accused of sex trafficking a 16-year-old in Jeffrey Epstein-related documents something, which would have gotten him the death penalty under the new law, had he been convicted.