Senate Passes Legislation To Protect Children From Criminals

Senator Thomas P. Morahanannounced the introduction 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 and GPS tracking of violent sexual predators.

The bill is named after Nixzmary Brown, a seven year old Brooklyn girl who was brutally beaten and left for dead earlier this month. Her mother and stepfather have been charged with her murder.

The Senatealso passed a comprehensive package of legislation to strengthen and improve Megan’s Law and crack down on dangerous sex offenders who pose a threat to our children and our communities, including the "Eleventh Anniversary, Twenty-First Century Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Reform Act," which would strengthen Megan’s Law in 25 ways, including increased penalties, mandated community notification and GPS monitoring of the most dangerous offenders.

NIXZMARY’S LAW

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.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes called for these changes because the existing law did not mandate a life without parole sentence against the alleged killers of Nixzmary Brown because no felony sex crime was involved. As a result, the killers could be released from prison after 15 years.

District Attorney Hynes said: "I commend the Senate Majority for taking such a strong stand against those offenders – parents, guardian, and other persons entrusted with the care and welfare of a child – who, betraying that trust, murder these vulnerable victims. Offenders who cruelly inflict pain, abuse, and ultimately death on those children whom they were supposed to protect are not fit to ever re-enter society. These child-killers deserve life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and this important legislation addresses this issue."

Existing law mandates the sentence of life without parole for the death of a child less than 14 years of age only in those cases when a person 18 years of age or more commits the crime while committing a felony sex crime against the child. In all other cases, a person who tortures and abuses a child, causing the child’s death, or intentionally causes the death of a child, can be paroled after serving a minimum term, no matter how horrific the crime.

STRENGTHENING MEGAN’S LAW

The New York State Senate today passed a comprehensive package of legislation to strengthen and improve Megan’s Law and crack down on dangerous sex offenders who pose a threat to our children and our communities by requiring mandatory community notification when a sex offender moves into a community, requiring GPS monitoring of the most dangerous offenders, and increasing penalties for sex offenders.

The "Eleventh Anniversary Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Reform Act" would require:

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.

In addition, the "Eleventh Anniversary Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Reform Act" does the following:

> adds three crimes to the list of registerable offenses:

> sexual assault against a child by a person in a position of trust in the first degree;

> sexual assault against a child by a person of trust in the second degree; and

> endangering the welfare of a child where sexual activity is involved.

> adds sexual assault against a child by a person in a position of trust in the first degree to the list of sexually violent offenses;

> verification forms will be mailed to sex offenders twice a year on a random basis, rather than once a year on the anniversary date;

> even if an offender has not moved, they will be in violation if they do not send back their signed verification card;

> changes the determination hearing process in the following ways:

> the notice to the sex offender will tell them the hearing will determine how much information the community will receive;

> requires sex offenders to appear at the hearing which will determine their level of notification and whether they are designated as a sexual predator, sexually violent offender, or predicate sex offender;

> a sex offender who has been convicted outside of New York will be given notice of the hearing that will determine how long they must register and how much information will be given to the public; and

> if an out of state offender fails to appear, the court will still make a determination.

> amends the correction law in relation to what constitutes failure to register on the part of the sex offender, and the penalties for failing to register;

> changes the conditions of probation or parole that prohibit a sex offender from going on school grounds to eliminate the necessity that the victim be less than 18 at the time of the offense;

> creates the new crime of unlawfully residing or entering upon school grounds in the second degree. No sex offender may go on school grounds;

> increases the statute of limitations for a sex offense against a child under the age of 17 to 15 years, from 5 years, after the child reaches the age of 18; and

> requires that when an individual is charged with a sex offense, incest, or sexual performance, any plea agreement must include a guilty plea to one of these crimes.

In addition to the "Eleventh Anniversary Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Reform Act" would:

> increase the criminal penalties for sexual offenses against a minor when those offenses are committed by a person in a position of trust, such as a teacher, day-care provider, or a coach;

> 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;

> extend the statute of limitations to prosecute sex crimes against children from five years to 15 years, after the victim has reached age 18 ;

> prohibit persons who are required to register as sex offenders from residing or entering upon school grounds;

> increase the penalty for failure to report the sexual assault of a child ;

> instill a penalty for offenders who fail to annually return a signed verification form, regardless of whether or not the offender has moved ;

> increase the penalty for failing to register under the Sex Offender Registry Act from a class A misdemeanor to a class D felony ;

> require information about all levels of sex offenders to be posted on the Internet, and provide for registration to receive an automatic e-mail notification when a sex offender moves into a resident’s zip code ; and

> make failure to report to the determination hearing a violation of the Act, require the court to hold the hearing in the offender’s absence if the offender fails to appear, and require a sex offender to sign and return an annual verification form, regardless of whether the offender has moved.

The New York State Senate also passed legislation that would: increase the penalty for gang sexual assault from a misdemeanor to a class E felony ; and increase the period of probation for a class B misdemeanor sexual assault from one year to three years .

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