Larkin Calls For Crackdown On Unregistered Sex Offenders

Senator Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson) is pushing for legislation (S.912) that would require every convicted sex offender to register or verify his address with the New York State Sex Offender Registry or be arrested and charged with a Class D Felony. The bill would also charge unregistered sex offenders with the same crime if they are found near any location where children are likely to frequent such as parks, playgrounds, schools, libraries etc.

Senator Larkin cited a recent case where a sex offender living in Auburn, New York, who failed to register every 90 days and failed to annually verify his address, was arrested while using the web site MySpace.Com, which is popular with teens at a public library.

"Because of the way current law is written, this individual could only be charged with two misdemeanors--failure to register every 90 days and failure to verify his address annually," said Senator Larkin. "It was not illegal for him to be in the library. Thankfully, this person was observed and caught. But obviously the state is still not doing enough to prevent convicted sex offenders from being this close to children. This bill would at the very least put another legal block between these people and innocent children and increase the punishment for violators."

At this time, the bill has no Assembly sponsor.