Senator Alesi And New York State Senate Act On Legislation To Protect Children From Criminals

Senator Jim Alesi (R/C-Perinton) today joined the Senate Republicans in announcing the passage of "Nixzmary’s Law," legislation that requires a sentence of life without parole for parents or guardians who kill a child. In addition, the Senate today passed 26 bills that will update and strengthen Megan’s Law, including tougher criminal penalties, mandated community notification, GPS tracking of violent sexual predators, and residency requirements.

The Senate "Nixzmary’s Law" legislation would create the crime of aggravated murder of a child. The crime would mandate a sentence of life without parole for the parent, guardian or other person in a position of trust, who abuses and tortures a child under the age of 14, causing the death of the child or intentionally causes the death of a child. The residency requirements, outlined in Senator Alesi’s bill (S.4025), restrict level three sex offenders from residing within one-quarter mile of any school or licensed day care facility.

"It is the responsibility of the state to protect our most vulnerable citizens," said Senator Alesi. "This legislation is designed to close loopholes to protect our young people by distancing sex offenders from schools and giving communities the information that they need to protect their children."

The Senate today also acted on several other pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening Megan’s Law and cracking down on dangerous sex offenders who pose a threat to our children and our communities including:

Mandatory Community Notification:

Under current law, it is left up to the discretion of the police whether they notify community members about the presence of a sex offender.

Website and Electronic Communication:

This legislation expands the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ website to include information about all sex offenders, not only the Level Three

offenders under current law. In addition, visitors to the website would be able to register for e-mail notification regarding sex offenders living in, or relocating to, their zip code.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Tracking: This legislation would require all Level Three offenders to wear a GPS monitoring device for the duration of registration. The Act includes numerous provisions relating to the type of GPS system the offender must wear, the offender’s required contribution to its cost, penalties for the removal or disabling of the tracking device, and judicial authority to modify the tracking equipment.

"This package of legislation, which the Senate passed today, is an important step in curtailing the heinous offenses committed by these violent sexual predators," said Senator Alesi. "Today a statement was made -- we are committed to do everything in our power to protect our children."