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Laws and Legislation
The Jacob Wetterling Act
1994 |
 In
1989, Jacob Wetterling, 11, his brother Trevor, 10, and a friend,
Aaron, 11, were riding their bikes while returning home from a
convenience store in St. Joseph, Minnesota. A masked man came out of
a driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch,
turn off their flashlights, and lie face down on the ground. The
gunman asked each of the boys his age. They each responded. He then
told Trevor Wetterling to run into the woods and not to look back,
or he would shoot him. Next, the gunman turned Aaron over, looked at
his face, and told him to run into the woods. As Trevor and Aaron
ran away, they glanced back to see the gunman grab Jacob's arm. When
Aaron and Trevor reached the wooded area, they turned to find that
Jacob and the gunman were gone. Although Jacob's family has never
given up hope, Jacob Wetterling is still missing to this day.
On October 22, 1989, friends and strangers rallied to the family's
aid and worked 24 hours each day to search the area for Jacob and
distribute flyers across the country. Investigators later learned
that, unknown to local law enforcement, halfway houses in St. Joseph
housed sex offenders after their release from prison. Jacob's
mother, Patty, became an advocate for missing children and was
appointed to a Governor's Task Force that recommended stronger sex
offender registration requirements in Minnesota. Later, the U.S.
Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and
Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act in Jacob's honor. |
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Megan's Law
1996 |
 Megan's
Law was inspired by the case of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New
Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who
moved across the street from the family and lured Megan Kanaka to
his home with promises of a puppy. Megan Kanka's family lobbied to
have communities warned about sex offenders in the area. The New
Jersey legislature passed Megan's Law in 1994 and then was signed by
Governor Christine Todd Whitman for the first state-level version of
what we know as Megan's Law.
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed Megan's Law as an amendment to
the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children's Act. It required
every state to develop some procedure for notifying the public when
a sex offender is released into their community. Different states
have different procedures for making the required disclosures.
On May 17, 1996, President Clinton signed Megan's Law which
amended The Jacob Wetterling Act of 1994. Megan's Law
requires states to establish a community notification
system:
- Sex Offenders pose a high risk of re-offending after release from custody;
- Protecting the public from sex offenders is a primary governmental interest;
- The privacy interests of persons convicted of sex offenses are less important than the government's interest in public safety;
- Release of certain information about sex offenders to public agencies and the general public will assist in protecting the public safety.
- Community Notification - Megan's Law allows the States discretion to establish criteria for disclosure, but compels them to make private and personal information on registered sex offenders available to the public. Community notification:
- Assists law enforcement in investigations;
- Establishes legal grounds to hold known offenders;
- Deters sex offenders from committing new offenses;
- Offers citizens information they can use to protect children from victimization.
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Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
2006
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Creates a national public sex offender registry. Provides the public with better and more uniform information about sex offenders so that all communities benefit from the same kind of information. States will be required to list all, not merely some, sex offenders on their web site registries.
Provides for consistent sex offender requirements in all states. Sex offenders will no longer be able to take advantage of different state requirements to avoid registering. It mandates that sex offenders be registered before they are released from prison or three days after a sentence of probation.
Penalizes failure to comply with registration duties as a state and federal felony.
Enhances the ability of law enforcement to track sex offenders when they move, cutting down on the number of "missing" sex offenders in the system. It requires sex offenders to verify registration in person to law enforcement rather than by mail.
Makes important changes in the way law enforcement handles missing child reports. Reports must be entered into the FBI's National Crime Information Center within 2 hours. It also prohibits the removal of a missing child report when the child turns age 18 before being recovered.
In response to the growing problem of commercial child pornography and the exploitation of children online, the bill increases the number of Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces across the nation.
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| The Jessica Lunsford Act |
Named in memory of Jessica Lunsford, who was abducted and sexually assaulted before being brutally murdered, "Jessica's Law" refers to the Jessica Lunsford Act passed in Florida which mandates a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison for first-time child sex offenders.
- Increase the penalty for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child to life in prison or a split sentence of a mandatory minimum 25-year prison term, followed by lifetime supervision with electronic monitoring.
- Increase, from 20 to 30 years, the period of time before a sexual predator is allowed to petition to have the sexual predator designation removed.
- Increase sexual predator/offender registration and reporting requirements.
- Sexual predators who murder their victims now qualify for the death penalty in capital cases.
- Designate failing to re-register as a sexual offender/predator or harboring or assisting a sexual predator/offender a third degree felony.
- Require those already convicted of sex crimes to have electronic monitoring for the remainder of their probation.
- Require all county misdemeanor probation officials to search the sexual offender registry when a new offender is assigned to them.
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| The CyberCrimes Against Children Act of 2007 |
The CyberCrimes Against Children Act of 2007 was unanimously passed by both the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives, strengthening Florida.s laws against the possession and distribution of child pornography as well as those who solicit children for sex online.
The bill also creates a new, separate crime for individuals who solicit a child online and then travel to meet them for the purposes of further sexual abuse. Thanks to our legislative leaders and our bill sponsors, Senator Nancy Argenziano and Representative David Rivera, I believe we are now in a position to effectively keep these internet predators where they belong - behind bars and away from our children.
The next step in our efforts to protect our children comes in the form of a budget request my office has submitted for expanding the Child Predator CyberCrime Unit staff by 50. This unit, currently staffed by six dedicated individuals, has already experienced staggering success, netting 40 arrests in just two years. Imagine the difference an increase of 50 investigators, attorneys and victim advocates would make, spreading our protective efforts across the entire state. This expansion would not only offer a stronger force against individuals who commit computer-facilitated crimes, but it would enable us to extend our educational and awareness outreach efforts to children and parents throughout Florida.
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