JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jessica Lunsford was only 9 years old when she was abducted from her home, raped and later buried alive.
Now a documentary about her life and her father's crusade against sex offenders, called "Jessie's Dad," shows this weekend in St. Augustine.
Jessie's Dad shows a father on a mission -- his precious daughter ripped from his life by a sex offender and child killer. The pain he experiences is unbearable, but he's working to keep it from happening to anyone else.
Jessica's brutal rape and murder gained national attention, and that of a Florida journalist.
"And then I noticed he was becoming an activist, which I thought was fascinating," filmmaker Boaz Dvir said of Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford.
Dvir decided to highlight Lunsford's work to make the world a better place for children.
"Well, truthfully, I used to live in Homosassa, which is where this happened, and when it happened, live, I followed it on the Internet," Dvir said. "I was really frightened by the whole thing and so heartbroken, and when they found Jessica dead, I mean, my sister went to the same elementary school that she did, so I had a really close personal connection."
Dvir said that as he was making the documentary, he was taken aback by Lunsford's strength and will to make a difference.
"He helped create and then convince lawmakers around the country to pass Jessie's Law," Dvir said. "Jessie's Law has many facets to it, so we probably don't have time to get into it, but the main thing is that it toughens the sentencing against sex offenders. It also helps us know where they are. You know those listings that they print in newspapers now and online to show you where the sex offenders are? That came out of Jessie's law. The fact that if you're a sex offender, you can't work in a school sounds obvious, but that came out of Jessie's Law."
Lunsford said he'll keep pushing for change so his daughter's death wasn't in vain. And as for the film about him and his daughter:
"I just, you know, very emotional, and every time I see it, it's emotional," he said. "And I always walk away with one thought that, 'You know, every time somebody sees this, somebody's going to do something, somebody out there in the group of people that's watching, they're going to do something."
The screening of "Jessie's Dad" will be Saturday at the St. Augustine Film Festival.
It starts at 2 p.m. at the Gamache-Koger Theatre.
To learn more about the film, visit http://jessiesdaddocumentary.com/.