|
|
 |
|
|
Reforms to Protect Children From Sexual Predators
Monday, February 9, 2004
The New York State Senate today passed a comprehensive package of legislation to combat child sex crimes, including an increase in criminal penalties; strengthen sexual abuse reporting laws; ensure that sex offender registry information is updated and accurate; and promote greater public awareness of convicted sex offenders.
"New York State must remain at the forefront of laws aimed at protecting our children," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. "These reforms will help law enforcement officials prosecute and properly punish sexual predators who commit these awful crimes and will provide families with the most up-to-date information needed to safeguard their children and our neighborhoods from convicted sex offenders."
"Following the tragic situation in Sarasota that gripped our collective conscience, the Senate�s passage of this comprehensive legislative package will help empower parents with the information necessary to protect their children," said Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-C, Rockville Centre). "Taken together, these measures will provide greater accessibility to the Sex Offender Registry through the Internet, strengthen registration procedures and penalties and prevent these predators from circumventing �Megan�s Law.� Information is the key and these initiatives will offer parents new tools to ensure the safety of their families."
The package of bills includes:
TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR SEX ABUSERS AND OFFENDERS WHO PROVIDE FALSE INFORMATION
The Senate today passed legislation to increase penalties for those who fail to register as sex offenders under Megan�s Law and for those who provide false information when registering as a sex offender.
The bill (S.1016), sponsored by Senator Skelos, would increase the penalty for failing to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registry Act from a class �A� misdemeanor to a class �D� felony.
The Senate today also passed a bill (S.120A), sponsored by Senator James Alesi (R-C, Perinton), that adds a new section to Megan�s Law making it a class �E� felony to offer false information regarding identity or residence when registering as a sex offender.
In Monroe County, a sex offender required to register under Megan's Law, circumvented the law by giving a false address to the registry. The man who failed to properly register had been previously convicted of raping a Rochester girl and served three years in prison for his offense. The sex offender was able to live in a community for 5 years without neighbors or the local law enforcement being notified of the heightened risk.
"The registry created under Megan�s Law provides law enforcement with a dependable resource to locate all convicted sex offenders in a region," said Senator Alesi. "Due to the extremely serious nature of these types of crimes and the potential dangers that are created when the registry information is incorrect, it is essential that the registry remain accurate so as to be as effective as possible in protecting the public. My bill will send a strong message that engaging in fraud related to the sex offender registry in any way will simply not be tolerated. We must make every effort to eliminate attempts to dilute the purpose or effectiveness of Megan�s Law."
The Senate today also passed a bill (S.1206), sponsored by Senator Joseph E. Robach (R, Rochester), that would require sex offenders who are found guilty of another offense during their probation to serve consecutive sentences rather than concurrent sentences.
Presently, the law allows any additional sentencing for new offenses occurring during a probationary period to be served concurrently with the original terms of the offender�s sentence. Therefore, a violation of that probationary period would go unpunished, saving the offender from the maximum allowable penalty. This legislation would change the penal code to provide only consecutive sentencing for convicted sex offenders who re-violate while on probation.
"Sex crimes are an ever-elusive problem that continues to challenge our community and our police departments," said Senator Robach. "For this reason, there is a need to ensure offenders are put behind bars for the time they deserve, especially those offenders whose victims are minors and children. This legislation will reduce the high rates of recidivism as well as protect the safety and well-being of the residents in our communities."
STRENGTHENING SEXUAL ABUSE REPORTING LAWS
The Senate today passed a bill (S.277), sponsored by Senator Skelos, that would strengthen sexual abuse reporting laws. This bill establishes the penalty of Class �B� misdemeanor for anyone 18 years of age or older who knowingly fails to report the sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age to a law enforcement official.
"In too many reported cases, someone has observed the sexual assault of a child and remained silent," Senator Skelos said. "As members of a civil society, we possess a duty to report
this type of incident to the proper authorities and prevent these dangerous criminals from preying on the innocence of our children."
The legislation is in response to the molestation and murder of a seven-year-old girl in a Nevada casino in May 1997, while a bystander did nothing. In most states there is no legal recourse for this type of activity because there is not a "Good Samaritan" law requiring witnesses to report crimes to the proper authorities. This bill does not require people to intervene in dangerous situations, it does however require people to report the crime they witnessed.
LIMITED PLEA BARGAINING FOR FELONY SEX OFFENDERS
Where an individual is charged with a crime, often, they are allowed to plead to a lesser crime in full satisfaction of all charges. For example, an individual charged with breaking into a home (burglary) and with a sex offense against the occupant (rape), could be allowed to plead to the burglary charge. The rape charge would be dropped or merged and the sex offender would have satisfied all charges. That sex offender, when released, would not be included in the Sex Offender Registry, because the individual was not convicted of a sex offense.
The Senate today passed a bill (S.552), sponsored by Senator Skelos, that would require that a person charged with a sexual offense would only be allowed to plea bargain where the agreed upon plea included a sex offense. With this bill, a sex offender would not be able to "mask" his or her sex offense behind another crime.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND UPDATES TO THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY
In order to keep the public notified with the most up-to-date information regarding sex offenders, the Senate today passed a bill (S.3925), sponsored by Senator Dean Skelos, that would require registered sex offenders to have a new photograph taken each year and to have that photograph included in their sex offender registration.
The Senate today also passed a bill (S.4007A), also sponsored by Senator Skelos, that makes any failure to appear for an updated photograph a violation of the Sex Offender Registration Act and, following a recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision, makes information and photos about all three levels of registered sex offenders available on the Division of Criminal Justice Services website homepage. Currently, only Level 3 sex offenders -- known as sexually violent predators -- are required to have their photos posted on the DCJS website whereas the public cannot obtain photos of Level 1 and Level 2 sex offenders.
In addition, the Senate today passed a bill (S.5985), sponsored by Senator Michael Nozzolio (R-C, Fayette), Chairman of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, that establishes a uniform mandatory dissemination practice among law enforcement agencies of information about level one, two and three sex offenders and also requires the inclusion of the offender's exact name and alias in law enforcement's notification to the public concerning level three offenders.
"Since its enactment, �Megan�s Law� has helped protect families and neighborhoods from convicted sex offenders. The bill that I sponsored will strengthen Megan�s Law to ensure everything possible is done to help keep New York�s women and children safe from these predators," said Senator Nozzolio.
In addition, the Senate today passed two additional bills sponsored by Senator Skelos that: ensures all persons convicted of sex offenses in federal and other state courts will continue to be registered as sex offenders upon establishing a residence in New York (S.4168); requires sex offenders to annually return a verification form to the Division of Criminal Justice Services within 10 calendar days of receipt (S.4455).
The bills were sent to the Assembly.
[BIOGRAPHY] [DISTRICT MAP] [PHOTO GALLERY] [LEGISLATION] [CONSTITUENT SERVICES] [YOUR OPINION COUNTS] [GUESTBOOK] [PRIVACY POLICY] [SENATE INSIDER] [CONTACT INFO] [HOME/NEWS]