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Committee drops death penalty provision from sex offender law

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A proposal to allow the state to seek the death penalty for repeat child sex offenders was dropped by a legislative committee Thursday, in an attempt to get some tougher provisions approved before lawmakers adjourn for the year.

The bill approved by the House Criminal Laws Subcommittee focuses on requiring sex offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices.

The Senate-passed bill now moves to the full Judiciary Committee in an attempt to get approval before adjournment for the year, scheduled for June 1.

There was no chance to advance the bill Thursday with the death penalty provision included, said Rep. Murrell Smith, Jr., R-Sumter, the subcommittee chairman.

Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Bennettsville, had threatened to insist that nearly a dozen witnesses be allowed to testify on the death penalty provision. Jennings dropped that demand when the death penalty provision was excluded.

Some observers had said the death penalty provision was an election-year reaction to the case of Kenneth Hinson, the Darlington County man charged with raping two teenage girls in a dungeon behind his home earlier this year.