TALLAHASSEE — With the abduction and murder of yet another child fresh in their minds, members of the House unanimously passed a bill Tuesday to give certain sex criminals either life sentences or lifetime satellite tracking after they get out of prison.

Named the Jessica Lunsford Act after a 9-year-old Homosassa girl who was abducted and killed — allegedly by a sex offender– the measure still needs approval from the Senate, which is considering similar legislation.

House passed the bill two days after another sex offender was charged in the abduction and murder of 13-year-old Sarah Lunde of Ruskin.

The bill (HB 1877) would set a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison for people convicted of molesting children under 12 years old. If the person serves less than life, their prison time would be followed by monitoring by global positioning system for the rest of their life.

Jessica Lunsford’s father Mark, who also helped look for Sarah Lunde while she was missing, was at the Capitol as lawmakers took up the bill named for his daughter. He was pushing for that legislation and another bill that would get tough on probation violators.

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TALLAHASSEE — Responding to the tragic spate of slayings involving girls, the Florida House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for a bill that would require life sentences or lifetime electronic monitoring for criminals who sexually molest children.

The legislation (HB 1877) is a direct response to the killing of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Homosassa earlier this year. But it also follows the slaying of 13-year-old Sarah Lunde in Hillsborough County this month.

In both cases, the men accused of the crimes were sex offenders with a history of violence.

Lawmakers said the bill, which will be debated by the Senate today and could be sent to the governor by the end of the week, is a major step in tightening the state’s sex-offender laws.

“We’re moving forward in a determined, determined effort to protect our children,” said Rep. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, the former sheriff of Citrus County, where Lunsford lived.

Sen. Nancy Argenziano, RDunnellon, who sponsored the Senate version of the “Jessica Lunsford Act,” said publicity about Sarah Lunde’s killing spurred House and Senate members to work out most of their differences on the bill, clearing the way for its likely final passage within the next few days.

“These are our babies. They belong to all of us. Our message is going to be loud and clear,” she said.

Gov. Jeb Bush said he “wholeheartedly” supports the legislation.

But one state official said lawmakers ought to be doing more.

Shortly before the House voted 118-0 for the Lunsford bill, Attorney General Charlie Crist held a news conference to criticize lawmakers for not also acting on a bill (HB 451, SB 608) that would crack down on violent felons who violate their probation. The bill was developed out the circumstances surrounding the murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in Sarasota last year.

While saying he strongly supports the Lunsford bill, Crist said he was frustrated by the fact that the probation bill, called the “Anti-Murder Act,” stalled in the Legislature because lawmakers are worried about the cost of the legislation, which would be at least $56 million in the first year.

But Crist said cost shouldn’t be a factor, saying the life of a child can’t be compared to the cost of a road or a sewer project.

“. . . it’s time to act,” he said. “I’m tired of reading the head-lines.”

Lawmakers said the probation bill was still being worked on, while they were ready to move forward on the sex-crimes bill, which will cost the state about $12 million in its first year.

Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, who helped work out the details of the Lunsford bill, said it will have an impact because for the first time it elevates the penalty for sexually molesting a child under the age of 12 to a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, while allowing the judge to impose a maximum life sentence in some cases.

In any event, the criminal who is convicted under the new law would also be subject to lifetime monitoring by satellite systems if released from prison.

“I really think this approach will be one that will make a huge difference,” Smith said.

Other provisions in the bill make it a felony to harbor a sex offender or predator. It also requires a sex offender to personally check in at the local sheriff’s office twice a year — as opposed to the current notification by mail system.

But the law, which would take effect Sept. 1, does not apply to criminals already convicted of sex crimes. Florida had more than 33,000 registered sex offenders as of last year.

Argenziano said the bill would subject those sex offenders to satellite monitoring if they violate the terms of their probation or community control in the future. She said because many are habitual criminals, they are likely to fall under the tougher monitoring system eventually.

In the House debate, lawmakers acknowledged the Lunsford bill would not stop all the crimes against children.

“You’re not going to deter 100 percent of them,” said Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz. “But if you can deter even a small percentage of them, then you have done a good job.”

Rep. Jeff Kottkamp, R-Cape Coral, said he agreed with the attorney general that lawmakers have to pass a stronger probation law as well as the Lunsford bill. “The other part of the fix is still out there,” he said.

He said one of the key provisions of the probation bill is that it would require judges to assess whether a violent felon who violated his probation was “a danger to the community” before being released again.

Rep. Everett Rice, R-Treasure Island, the former sheriff of Pinellas County, said like most lawmakers he wanted the sex offenders to be locked away in prison for as long as possible. But he said once they get out, “those are the ones we need to wire up and monitor.”

Watching the legislative action Tuesday was Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford.

In an emotional appeal during Crist’s news conference, Lunsford called on lawmakers to pass all of the anti-crime bills that might prevent another child from being murdered.

“It’s just senseless for our children to be taken away from us the way they have been taken,” he said. “We should not be afraid to walk our streets and to let our children run and play.”