By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – Governor Holden signed a variety of anti-crime legislation in St. Louis Monday.
Among other things, the new laws strengthen penalties for identity theft and possession of child pornography.
In addition, Holden says Missouri is now joining 14 other states in criminalizing cross-burning with the intent of intimidating someone.
"I think the courts and law enforcement will be very aggressive in making sure that any set of circumstances that might be offensive to any minority will be very aggressively prosecuted," Holden said.
Holden also signed a bill making it a felony for sexual predators to escape from treatment centers.
That's in response to a convicted sex offender who escaped from a facility in Farmington, but could only be charged with damaging a fence.