Assembly's Sexual Offender Bills Slated For Floor Action; Silver Calls for Conference Committee on Civil Commitment

Tougher Penalties, Civil Commitment, Enhanced Prosecution, Increased Public Education

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the Assembly will act later today on the Child Safety and Sexual Predator Punishment and Confinement Strategy - a tough, comprehensive package of legislation that provides for longer sentences for the worst sex crimes, civil commitment for dangerous predators, mandatory treatment for offenders, enhanced services and protection for victims and improved community notification so the public is better informed about potential danger.

Citing the success of last week's conference committee on Megan's Law, Silver called for a joint legislative conference committee to negotiate civil commitment legislation.

"My goal for 2006 is for this House to build upon the solid progress and the real reforms we achieved in bipartisan fashion last year. Since good government is open government, let's agree to joint public conference committees on all legislation that passes both Houses where differences exist between our bill and the Senate's bill. Let's go to conference committee, iron out our differences, and give New Yorkers the productive and professional government that they deserve," said Silver, (D-Manhattan) on January 9, 2006.

Bills included in the package also would remove the statute of limitations on sex crimes involving DNA evidence, expand the statute in other crimes, and ensure education for school children to help protect them against the danger of sexual assault.

"Sexual abuse and assault are heinous crimes that leave profound, everlasting scars. The Assembly has crafted a package of bills resulting from a deliberative process, involving public hearings where we heard from experts in the field. Additionally we worked with victim rights organizations to put forward solid legislation aimed at effectively assisting those in need of support and recovery. We will continue to work in a bipartisan manner for the safety of all New Yorkers," said Silver.

Tougher sentences for the worst sex crimes

The Assembly's plan provides for up to life sentences for the most heinous sex crimes - those where the perpetrator harmed the victim, threatened the use of a weapon, committed the crime against multiple victims or was previously convicted of a felony sex crime. Adults convicted of serious sex crimes in which the victim is under the age of 13 could spend the rest of their lives in prison, regardless of any other aggravating circumstance (A.8939-A/Silver).

Civil commitment for dangerous sexual predators

Under the Assembly's plan (A.9282/Silver), the process would begin with the state Attorney General petitioning the courts for civil commitment after a psychiatric examination of the offender and input from mental-health professionals. Sex offenders subject to civil commitment would have constitutionally-required due process - including access to a public defender and a probable cause hearing.

Civil commitment would be ordered if a jury unanimously decided that an offender is a sexual predator who is likely to repeat a horrific sex crime again. And even if it is determined that confinement is not necessary to protect the public, there would still be the ability to ensure a convicted sex offender remains under intense supervision.

While those civilly confined could be housed in state mental hygiene facilities, they would be barred from coming in contact with the general population of patients with mental disabilities.

Extending the Statute of Limitations in Child Sexual Assault Cases

This bill would extend the authority to prosecute and to bring a civil lawsuit for damages in child sexual abuse cases in three significant ways, regardless of whether or not DNA evidence is available (A. 8705/Markey). These ways are:

• Under current law, the criminal statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases in which the crime is not reported to law enforcement does not begin until the victim reaches age 18. This bill would add five years to the statute, so that the five- or 10-year statute of limitations in such cases would not begin to run until the victim turned age 23 (extending the time for prosecution until a child victim reached age 28 or 33).
• A similar extension would be provided prospectively for the civil statute of limitations, and
• Persons for whom the right to bring a civil action has been foreclosed because of the current civil statute of limitations bar would be given a one-year "window period" from the date of enactment of the bill, regardless of their age, in which to bring an action to recover damages for any past instance of child sexual abuse.

Stopping Child Abuse by Mandated Reporters, Including Clergy

This bill, which has passed the Assembly for several years, would require that child abuse committed by any member in a range of professions now classified as "mandated reporters" under the state Social Services Law, or by any member of the clergy, be promptly reported to police authorities (A.912-B/McEneny).

Helping Victims

The plan also includes the Sexual Abuse Prevention Act (A.8294-A Weinstein), which:

• requires 12 hours of training for police officers in the investigation of sexual assault cases;
• provides for a toll-free, statewide hotline to connect sexual-assault victims with a rape crisis center in their area;
• mandates that Internet service providers give subscribers written notice of the availability of filtering devices that screen out material harmful to minors; and
• directs the state Office of Children and Family Services to develop a training curriculum for child protective services workers to be used in investigating sexual abuse.

Stopping Child Luring

The bill would create a new felony crime of luring a child for the purpose of committing a violent felony offense, sexual felony offense, murder in the first or second degree or kidnapping.

The legislation (A.2467/Lavelle) would explicitly criminalize luring a person under age 14 into a car, boat, aircraft, building or isolated area for the purpose of committing a sexual-offense felony or violent felony against that child.

The new luring crime would be a Class E felony, punishable by up to 4 years in prison. The luring crime is elevated further if the offender intended to commit a Class B or Class A felony. In such event, the luring crime is elevated, respectively, to a Class D felony, punishable by up to 7 years in prison, or Class C felony, with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Determining the Effectiveness of Megan's Law and Sex-Offender Treatment and Assessment Programs

This legislation (A.8368/O'Donnell) would direct the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to work with outside academic institutions to determine the effectiveness of Megan's Law, various sex-offender treatment programs and the sex-offender risk assessment instrument currently used by the Department of Correctional Services in determining "risk levels" under Megan's Law. This review would allow for an evaluation of their performance in reducing and predicting offender recidivism and apprehending sexual offenders.

Aiding Prosecution

The legislation would:

• help prosecutors use DNA evidence to indict sex offenders by specifically authorizing so-called "John Doe" indictments, in which an unknown person is charged within the statute of limitations based on DNA evidence (A.7607/Silver); and,
• eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations for some felony sex crimes in which DNA evidence links an unknown perpetrator to a crime (A.8416-A/Lentol).

Strengthening Megan's Law

In addition, the Child Safety and Sexual Predator Punishment and Confinement Strategy includes three bills to further strengthen Megan's Law. The measures are intended to build upon the dramatic improvements made to the law last week by the Senate and the Assembly, which doubled registration periods for low-risk offenders and provided for lifetime registration for level two and level three offenders. The proposed measures would:

• require sex offenders acquitted by reason of insanity to register under Megan's Law (A.966/Eddington);
• require police officers to visit the residence of any sex offender who fails to file a periodic verification form and obtain a signed form from the offender (A.7707/Gunther);
• disseminate information on the Internet about Level 2 sex offenders and provides schools and other institutions serving vulnerable populations with notification about Level 1 sex offenders (A.8370/Aubry); and
• require global positioning system monitoring of high-risk Level 3 sex offenders (A.8507/Sweeney).

"Sex crimes are brutal, despicable crimes and their impact is deeply disturbing. Over the past 11 years, the Assembly has enacted more than 100 tough anti-crime laws that have helped reduce the rate of violent crime in New York State by half - more than any other state in the nation. I strongly urge the governor and Senate to join us in supporting this strong, comprehensive plan for making our communities even safer," said Silver.

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