The White House removed a petition from its website on Friday that had called for the public hanging of Benjamin Taylor, a West Virginia man who was charged this week with the rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 10-month-old daughter.
The user-submitted petition was posted to the “We the People” section of the White House website on Tuesday this week and garnered more than 50,000 signatures before it was taken down Friday for violating its terms of service.
“Prison is too good for child rapists and their ilk. I would move to say that our ’justice system’ is even a part of the problem, in that incarceration is hardly justice when it comes to such an awful act,” the petition said. “Let us hang these creatures publicly. Let us make examples of them, and allow the American people to attend these hangings so that the accused may be ridiculed.”
The online petition was attributed to the initials “J.R,” and appeared the day after law enforcement in Ripley, West Virginia arrested Mr. Taylor, 32, over what Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs described as the worst sexual-assault case he’s witnessed in his decades-long career.
Mr. Taylor was initially charged with first-degree sexual assault, but was handed a first-degree murder charge as well after 10-month-old Emmaleigh Elizabeth Barringer died from her injuries Wednesday. A judge has set his bond at $2 million.
West Virginia is one of 18 states in the union which do not have capital punishment. The Mountain State abolished the death penalty in 1965.
Deputies said Mr. Taylor admitted he took the infant to the basement before the assault occurred, but “blacked out” soon after.
“We the People” was launched five years as a platform for people to petition the White House for causes they want considered by the president. Petitions that successfully garner 100,000 signatures are given to White House policy experts for an official response.
An online crowdfunding campaign launched earlier in the week to raise money for the infant’s medical costs received more than $36,000 as of Saturday afternoon that its creator said will go toward funeral costs.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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