Law Violations in Real Life True Crime

Law Violations in Real Life

True Crime

There are few crimes in which the statute of limitations will never expire. Among these limited crimes is murder, an offense considered so monstrous that penalties for committing murder range from life imprisonment to the death penalty. In the case of Anthony Sowell, one of America's most recent serial killers, murder was just one of the offenses that he committed. In addition to committing at least eleven murders, for which he was charged, he was also charged rape and kidnapping, felonious assault, and attempted murder (Smith, 2009). For the crimes that he committed, Sowell was sentenced on July 22, 2011 death by lethal injection.

Sowell committed at least three different types of crimes after he was released from prison in 2005 after being charged with attempted rape, rape, and kidnapping for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charge of attempted rape (Hawkins, n.d.). There is evidence that suggests that Sowell was also involved in the disappearance of other women prior to his arrest in 1989; Sowell's modus operandi is present in a rash of cold cases that stopped upon his arrest in 1989 ("East Cleveland: Did suspected serial killer also strike in 1989?," 2009). Less than two years after his release from prison, Sowell was on the prowl again, and was involved in the mysterious disappearance of at least 11 women from 2007 until 2009 when he was apprehended (Hawkins, n.d.).

The charges brought forth against Sowell after the disappearance of at least 11 women included murder, rape, and kidnapping for which the state of Ohio has established harsh sentences for each offense. In Ohio, where Sowell committed his crimes, differentiations are made as to how to classify rape and includes a separate classification system for the rape of a child less than 13 years of age (The Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission, 2006). In the interim report regarding rape penalties in 2006, it was proposed that rape sentences be made stricter and would make repeat offenders serve at least 20 years for each rape committed. As of 2006, nonconsensual rape carried a maximum sentence of 10 years, rape in which the victim was impaired carried a maximum sentence of 10 years with a minimum mandatory sentence of 5 years if impairment was caused by being drugged (The Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission, 2006). Because Sowell is a repeat offender, he was most likely charged for being a repeat offender. Attempted rape carried a maximum sentence of eight years in 2006 when it was proposed that the penalty be increased to a maximum of 15 years age (The Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission, 2006). In Ohio, kidnapping carries severe consequences; provided the kidnapper releases their hostage unharmed, the sentence may range from a minimum of ten years to a maximum term of life in prison (Chapter 2905: KIDNAPPING AND EXTORTION, n.d.).