House Republican Press Release

 

 

 

May 30, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

 

Rep. Stripp Applauds Passage of Stricter Sex Offender Laws

 

“Requires Predators to Registrar Internet Addresses”

 

HARTFORD – State Representative John Stripp, (R- 135th District) joined a unanimous House of Representatives in passing and approving a bill to strengthen current sex offender laws in Connecticut.

 

HB 7085 An Act Concerning the Statute of Limitations for Prosecution of Certain Sexual Offenders also passed and requires the Risk Assessment Board to determine under guidelines which sexual offenders shall be prohibited from residing within one thousand feet of public or private elementary or secondary schools and day care facilities.

 

In addition to the Risk Assessment Board provision, the bill also toughens up current sex offender laws by requiring sex offenders to provide their e-mail and instant message addresses to the Commissioner of Public Safety under the state’s Meghan’s Law requirements. Failure to comply will carry the same penalties for not reporting an offender’s physical addresses, which carries a jail term of up to 5 years (class D felony).

 

Rep. Stripp said, “The dissemination of communication through technology in our culture is both good and bad. This legislation attempts to deal with some of the more dangerous characters online.”

 

Very importantly, this bill creates a class C felony for misrepresentation of age to entice a minor punishable of 1 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 and also allows victims to petition the court at any time to remove a sex offender from the Department of Public Safety’s restricted registry.

 

Additionally, the new law would make persons who service or repair personal computers mandated reporters of suspected child abuse.

 

“Connecticut was one of the first states to enact Megan’s Law, and now in the age of super fast information, we need to update those statutes so that law enforcement will have the proper tools to identify predators online,” said Stripp.

 

 

Megan’s Law is named for 7 year-old Megan Kanka of New Jersey, who was killed in 1994 by a sex offender living near her home.  In 1995, Connecticut passed legislation mandating notification of residents that a sex offender was living in their neighborhood. A 1997 law made those addresses available to the general public. Originally placed on-line in 1999, a federal court removed the convicted sex offender list from the Internet in 2001 citing constitutional grounds, but the United States Supreme Court overturned the ruling in 2003.