Alabama Lawmaker Charged in a $500 Sex Sting the Same Week His Party's Child Predator Law Took Effect

Alabama Representative Brett Easterbrook was charged with attempted human trafficking on 2 October after allegedly offering $500 (£380) for sex with a person he believed was under 19 in an Atmore sting, the same week the state's child-predator death penalty law took effect.

Charge Reduced Because the Sting Had No Victim

Easterbrook, 63, originally faced first-degree human trafficking, a Class A felony carrying up to life in prison. On 5 October, Escambia County prosecutors asked a judge to reduce it to attempted human trafficking, arguing that an undercover operation produced no real victim.

District Judge James Eric Coale granted the motion. Court records say the $500 offer involved a person he believed was under 19, the age of majority in Alabama, and that single agreement underpins both his charges.

The amended charge is a Class B felony with a maximum of 20 years, according to reporting on the amended charge. The claim that the reduction affected a bond hearing under Aniah's Law requires further verification.

The Death Penalty Law He Helped Pass

Alabama's Child Predator Death Penalty Act took effect 1 October, one day before Easterbrook's arrest. The law makes first-degree rape, sodomy and sexual torture of a child under 12 punishable by death. The House cleared it 73 to 6 and the Senate 33 to 1 this year, and Easterbrook reportedly voted for it. The man who backed his state's harshest penalty for predators now faces a charge with a 20-year maximum.

The law does not apply to his case. Its death-penalty provisions reach only specified serious sexual offences involving children under 12, not a solicitation charge built on a sting. Even so, the overlap between his vote and his arrest has drawn attention across Alabama.

Two More Local Officials Swept Up

Easterbrook was one of 17 people arrested in the Atmore operation, which ran from 1 to 3 October. Investigators placed online adverts before the operation, then waited at a hotel for men to arrive expecting escorts.

Atmore Police Major Chance Thompson said officers in marked vests met them instead. Two other officials were caught in the same net. Former Satsuma City Schools Board President Kory Wesley, 38, faces attempted human trafficking and attempting to elude, while former Orange Beach public works director Timothy Tucker faces a misdemeanour prostitution charge.

What Voters in Three Counties Face Now

Easterbrook represents District 65, covering Washington County and parts of Baldwin and Clarke counties, and has served since 2018. His term ends next month, and he was not seeking re-election, which leaves constituents represented until then by a lawmaker accused of offering money for sex with someone he believed to be underage. Easterbrook was released within an hour of his arrest and has no attorney listed in court records. No trial date has been set.

The case now moves through the same justice system Easterbrook voted to make harsher. A sting with no real victim has resulted in a reduced charge carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years, while the death-penalty law he supported stays out of prosecutors' reach.

For a lawmaker who voted to expand the death penalty for predators, his final weeks in office will be defined by the charge, not the record.