Rapists

[TaraJo]

I think if I was a rapist and the rape sentence was as bad or worse then the murder charge, then I would seriously consider murdering the people I rape.

Even though the two would carry their own punishment? Say, to use round numbers, if both were punished by a 20 year sentence, is a 40 year sentence not worse than 20?

But it would certainly give the rapist incentive to murder and erase any evidence that the rape happened, especially if the penalty for rape is worse than the penalty for murder.

Which is entirely possible under some of the circumstances you've described. You've said child rape should be a life sentence, but if murder is only a 20 year sentence and you don't have to worry about a murder victim going to the police to report the crime, I can see someone taking their chances with a murder charge and them mutiliating the body so much that it's impossible to find evidence of rape. And I kinda don't like the idea of a justice system giving someone incentive for murder, y'know.