New York State Senate Passes Senator Joe Robach's Sex Abuse Recidivism Prevention Bills
On May 1st, the New York State Senate passed a pair of bills to help protect communities from convicted sex offenders. These bills, sponsored by New York State Senator Joe Robach of Rochester, aim to increase public awareness of sexual predators and help prevent sex offenders from committing repeat offenses. Speaking of the bills, Senator Robach said, "These legislative initiatives would help parents to better track individuals who decide to prey on young, innocent children. Additional awareness will further help reduce these types of heinous violations of our young. Lastly, crime victims have been calling, for a long time, to see longer sentences for these violators who prey on our children, and will now get that result."
The first piece of legislation sponsored by Senator Joe Robach seeks to help families and communities protect their children by providing them with additional information about convicted sex offenders and their whereabouts. The bill (S.356) would designate anyone convicted of committing or attempting to commit sex offenses against children aged ten years or less as level 3 sex offenders. As level 3 sex offenders - offenders who have a high risk of repeat offense and constitute a threat to public safety - they must have their information made available to the public through New York's Sex Offender Registry. In effect, Robach's bill acts to guarantee the ability of communities to be aware of a sexual predator of young children in their environment.
Senator Joe Robach's second bill (S.487) seeks to protect communities by addressing the high rate of recidivism, or repeat offenses, among convicted sex offenders. Currently, New York State law allows sex offenders who commit a new offense during their probationary period to serve any additional sentence concurrently with their original sentence. Robach's legislation would close this existing loophole by forcing these repeat offenders to serve consecutive sentences for their crimes, ensuring that they receive the maximum jail time possible.
Together, Senator Joe Robach's bills work to ensure the safety of communities by empowering families with useful information about convicted sexual predators and by keeping dangerous repeat sex offenders off the streets. The bills, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the New York State Senate, will now head to the New York State Assembly for approval.
Follow Technorati