For the first time ever, Florida is attempting to execute a man on charges of child sexual abuse.
Three counts of encouraging a sexual performance by a child and six counts of sexual battery upon a person under twelve years of age were brought against Joseph Andrew Giampa by a grand jury.
The office of the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney, William Gladson, has stated that, in accordance with Florida Statutes 794.011(2)(a) and 921.1425, they intend to seek the death penalty in light of the gravity of the alleged crimes.
On November 2, after visiting Giampa’s residence to question him, sheriff’s deputies from Lake County made an arrest.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Giampa allegedly showed deputies a video of himself “sexually abusing a child while recording the act” on a laptop found in his camper.
The man who had been filming the footage stepped in front of the camera and put it down halfway through; deputies later identified him as Giampa.
The pursuit of the death penalty for Giampa has the full backing of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
According to the governor’s office, pedophiles who “commit sexual battery against children under the age of 12” are now subject to the death penalty, thanks to House Bill 1297, which DeSantis signed into law in the spring.
“To overrule judicial precedents which have unjustly shielded child rapists from the death penalty and denied victims and their loved ones the opportunity to pursue ultimate justice against these most heinous criminals,” the governor said, threatening to take the fight to the United States Supreme Court.
Additionally, DeSantis signed a bill that reduces the number of jurors needed to reach a death penalty verdict from 12 to 8, reducing the previous requirement of unanimous consent.
