WPCNR'S ADAM IN ALBANY. By District 89 Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley. July 11, 2004: The Assembly recently passed legislation to help safeguard our children and families from sexual predators, including strengthening the Sex Offender Registry Act.

First and foremost, these bills are designed to prevent sexual predators from committing these horrible crimes in the first place. They send a clear message that those who commit these brutal crimes will be punished – severely.

Cracking down on brutal killers           

To protect our communities and punish those who prey on innocent children, I sponsored legislation requiring a mandatory life sentence without parole as the minimum sentence for a person convicted of murdering a child under the age of 14 in the course of committing a felony sex crime against the child (A.11557).

The legislation – which is known as Joan’s Law in memory of Joan D’Alessandro, a New Jersey girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered while delivering Girl Scout cookies – also has Senate approval, and is expected to be signed into law by the governor.

 Hopefully this legislation will help deter these awful crimes, and return a small measure of comfort and security to families and communities who have suffered from the loss of a child.

Preventing child abductions

To improve the Amber Alert Plan, which was created to serve as a quick and ready response to child abductions, I supported legislation the Assembly passed that would allow information about a missing child to be transmitted through e-mail, electronic organizers or mobile phones by service providers who voluntarily agree to send messages (A.11532). The legislation also passed the Senate and awaits the governor’s signature.

The Assembly passed another measure I supported criminalizing the act of luring a child under 14 for the purpose of committing a violent or sexual felony (A.11521).

We must act to protect our children from dangerous predators. These measures do so, and make sure tough penalties are in place for these heinous crimes.

Protecting our community

To strengthen the Sex Offender Registration Act, which requires convicted sex offenders to register with local law enforcement, I worked to pass measures – which have both passed the Senate – that:

·           require the Division of Criminal Justice Services to regularly remind officials in other states that they must tell New York officials when a sex offender moves into this state, and mandating that the DCJS notify sex offenders in New York State that they may have to register in another state if they move (A.11599); and

·           provide a toll-free telephone number for the sex offender registry and allow youth service organizations to perform background checks on up to 20 people per call (A.11590).

The Sex Offender Registry is an important tool in keeping our loved ones safe from sexual predators, and these new measures will make it even more effective by improving access to it, and making sure it’s up to date. I hope the governor will join us by supporting this legislation, which improves the efficiency of the registry.