Scott signs bill to let children secretly tape their rapists

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Children will now be able to secretly record people who rape them under a bill Gov. Rick Scott signed.

Scott signed the bill Friday, the day after a man was acquitted of raping his stepdaughter during a second trial ordered by the Florida Supreme Court because the victim’s secret recordings were illegal.

Richard McDade was serving a life sentence for raping his stepdaughter from the time she was 10 until she was 16. At his first trial, a judge allowed as evidence conversations she recorded with an MP3 player hidden in her shirt.

But the Supreme Court said that was illegal and ordered a new trial.

The bill was a response to that case.

Scott also signed a bill allowing rural letter carriers to drive their routes without seat belts.