Addabbo Supports Initiative Barring Those on Parole or Probation from Entering Public Libraries
Queens, NY -- In order to better
protect New Yorkers from possible harm by convicted sex offenders, NYS Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr.
(D-Queens) voted over the course of the 2012 legislative session to approve a
wide variety of Senate bills designed to increase penalties and otherwise
strengthen laws governing the punishment and activities of those who commit sex
crimes.
“We’ve made great progress in recent years to
ensure that neighborhoods are informed when a sex offender moves in, that
offenders are prevented from straying too close to areas where children gather,
and that steps are taken to decrease the possibility that additional sex crimes
will be committed,” said Addabbo.
“But given the severity of these crimes, and the
terrible physical and psychological damage that perpetrators can inflict upon
their victims, we need to make sure that our laws are effective and that any
loopholes are addressed.”
Addabbo pointed to news reports over this past
weekend that a registered sex offender was arrested for allegedly fondling two
young girls in a Flushing, Queens, public library last month.
“One of the bills I supported bars sex offenders
who are released on parole or probation from entering public libraries. While
the recent offender in Queen had apparently fulfilled the requirements of his
sentence, it is still quite clear that he shouldn’t be around children,”
Addabbo said, noting that some 200 pieces of legislation have been introduced
in the Senate and Assembly to address issues surrounding those who commit sex
offenses.
The Queens lawmaker noted that studies have
shown that those who commit sex offenses often have high rates of recidivism,
and that this behavior, particularly among those who commit repeated or the
most serious violent offenses, is not always responsive to rehabilitative
efforts. In New York State, sex offenders are designated as “Levels
1, 2, and 3” offenders – with “Level 3” being the most serious and considered
the most likely to be a repeat offender.
“We need to try to balance the rights of
convicts who have served their sentences with the equally important rights of
children and families to be protected from sex crimes,” Addabbo said.
“The legislation I have been supporting in the
Senate should help to keep us on this path.”
The bills supported by Addabbo, which were all
approved by the Senate but have yet to be been considered by the Assembly, are:
S.3744A: prohibits
sex offenders who are released on parole or probation from entering public
libraries;
S.512A: enables law
enforcement officials to inform the public of a “Level 2” sex offender’s place
of employment, information already found on the Department of Criminal Justice
Services (DCJS) Sex Offender Registry Web site;
S.597: prohibits
sex offenders from receiving or keeping real estate appraiser licenses;
S.1418: prohibits
convicted sex offenders from working or volunteering at any facility where they
would be allowed unsupervised access to residential living quarters;
S.356: automatically
designates a convicted sex offender as a “Level 3” sexual predator, the most
serious classification, if the crime is committed against a child 10 years-old
or younger;
S.1522: requires
sex offenders, upon registering or routinely verifying their addresses with the
State Division of Criminal Justice Services Sex Offender Registry, to also
provide the names of any schools located within a half-mile radius of their
homes;
S.1542: mandates
that those convicted of sex crimes appear at hearings where their designations
as “Levels 1, 2, or 3” sex offenders are determined;
S.1544: increases
penalties for sex offenders who fail to register or verify their addresses with
the Division of Criminal Justice Services Sex Offender Registry as required by
law, or who violate the law prohibiting sex offenders from operating frozen dessert
trucks;
S.487: requires
that sex offenders who commit another sex offense while on probation, and then
have their probation revoked, serve the sentence for the new crime
consecutively, and not concurrently, with their existing sentence;
S.1857A: prohibits
sex offenders from serving as trustees, principals, officers, members of boards
of education, or other positions of public trust within schools;
S.1927: makes it a
Class E felony for sex offenders to supply false information regarding their
identity or residence when registering or verifying this data with the State’s
Sex Offender Registry; and
S.1365: removes the
10-year “look back” period under which an offender could be charged with
persistent sexual abuse, a crime that involves separate criminal convictions of
forcible touching, sexual abuse, and other sex crimes over the last
decade. By removing the 10-year review period, people with multiple
convictions – no matter when or how long ago they occurred – could be charged
with the “Class E” felony of persistent sexual abuse.
“All of these bills have one common goal:
protecting the people of New York from sex offenders who have committed heinous
crimes and who may be at risk of doing it again,” said Addabbo.
“I hope we will see some action in this
direction when the Legislature returns to the State Capitol later this year to
take up unfinished business.”
