Most of the city would be off-limits to sexual predators under a
proposal that would bar them from living near parks and
schools.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Most of the city would be off-limits to sexual predators under a proposal that would bar them from living near parks and schools.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is backing California’s version of “Jessica’s Law” and touting it as some of the toughest sex offender legislation in the country, sent his public safety liaison to San Jose last week to promote the proposed tougher punishments.
The majority of the 47 sex offenders in Gilroy whose full addresses are posted on the Web live a short walk from city parks or schools. The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act would make it illegal for convicted sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet – about three city blocks – of parks or schools, forcing many to move to the edges of the city or into unincorporated areas of the county.
A total 68 registered sex offenders live in the city, but not all exact addresses are available.
Current law only applies to registrants who are convicted of committing certain crimes involving children, and prevents them from living within a quarter-mile, or 1,320 feet, of a school while on parole. The proposed legislation would not only add parks – and potentially additional sites, such as children’s museums or water parks, approved by local governments – it would include all sex offenders.
The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act includes two proposed state bills, AB 231, by Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, and SB 588, by state Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster. It would create stiffer punishments for the use of “date rape” drugs, child pornography and using the Internet to lure children into sex crimes.
It would also require sex offenders to wear a global positioning system device for the rest of their lives,
“We need to equip our law enforcement with the best technology available in order to stop these predators from flying under the radar,” Runner said. “Requiring GPS monitoring of sex offenders will be a huge deterrent and prevent many children from being victimized in the future.”
The measures are based on Florida’s “Jessica’s Law,” which also requires lifelong GPS tracking, and comes as other states are tightening sex offender restrictions. Nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped, molested and murdered in February by a convicted child molester.
Gilroy Police Detective Michael Beebe, who investigates sex crimes, said the department, together with a county-wide task force, keeps tabs on sex offenders year round. Offenders are required to register once each year to update their residence information.
“Then through the year, we check on them … meet with them in person, check out their home. We try to do that periodically,” Beebe said.
In recent months, the department has been working with the Department of Justice to update registrants’ information that is then posted on a Web site, www.MegansLaw.ca.gov.
Proposed changes
Bar registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, instead of 1,320 feet from schools only.
Expand the group of sex offenders barred from living near schools and parks to include all registered sex offenders, instead of only certain sex offenders who are on parole
Require registered felony sex offenders to wear a global positioning device for the rest of their lives
Make it illegal to lure kids into on-line
relationships with lewd intentions
Increase penalties for the possession of child pornography to a misdemeanor or felony, and automatically make it a felony for second or more offenses
Increase parole terms to as many as 10 years for predators who commit the most heinous crimes, instead of three to five years
Require sexually violent predators stay in a secure hospital prior to their parole, until they can prove to a judge they’re no longer a threat to society
