09/20/2006 GAAS:643:06 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Strong Measures to Protect Californians against Sex Predators
Governor Schwarzenegger today signed six bills that provide significant protections for Californians against dangerous sexual predators. The legislation will increase penalties for child rapists, child pornographers and Internet predators, creates a sex offender management board to help better track dangerous parolees, makes the use of GPS to monitor sex offenders a permanent program, requires registered sex offenders to disclose their registration status to prospective employers when applying for certain jobs and prohibits child molesters from employing minors.
"My single greatest priority as governor is to protect the safety and well being of all Californians. High risk sex offenders pose a threat to public safety and we must take every necessary step to eliminate that threat," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "Each of these laws will help make our state safer and make it tougher on the predators who want to create victims out of innocent Californians."
The Governor signed the Senate Bill 1128, the Sex Offender Control and Containment Act, at a ceremony in the State Capitol joined by a representative for Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) and Senator Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno), author and co-author of the legislation. The Governor also signed Senate Bill 1178 by Senator Jackie Speier. Also joining the Governor were law enforcement officials, corrections officials and crime victim advocates. Senate Bill 1128 by Senator Alquist (D-Santa Clara) enhances penalties and implements new laws for registered sex offenders, including punishing continuous child sexual abuse by an automatic 25-year-to-life prison sentence, making possession of pornography depicting children a felony in some cases, discouraging plea bargains for violent sex offenders, and including youth recreational facilities in addition to schools when restricting access for sex offenders. Among the bill's many provisions, it also requires every person required to register as a sex offender to be subject to assessment using the State-Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders, a valuable tool widely recognized by experts and used by law enforcement.
Senate Bill 1178 by Senator Speier (D-Hillsborough) requires high-risk sex offenders (HRSOs) to be fitted with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) devices and monitored by local law enforcement, making a successful pilot program a permanent tool for law enforcement to better track and catch sexual predators on parole who may be committing or planning subsequent crimes.
Announced today, the Governor has also signed:
Assembly Bill 1015 by Assemblymembers Chu (D-Monterey Park) and Spitzer (R-Orange) creates the Sex Offender Management Board under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The Board will bring together the stakeholders in the management of sex offenders to assess the current practices in managing adult sex offenders under supervision, identify best practices and make recommendations on how to implement these changes.
Assembly Bill 2263 by Assemblymember Spitzer (R-Orange) requires registered sex offenders, applying for jobs that involve physical contact with children, to disclose their registration status to prospective employers.
Assembly Bill 1683 by Assemblymember Shirley Horton (R-Chula Vista) requires the Department of Mental Health (DMH), when contracting with an entity that performs monitoring and supervision of a conditionally released sexually violent predator (SVP), to provide the court with a copy of the contract and proposed treatment plan. It permits the court to order DMH to provide copies of the terms and conditions of treatment (except confidential medical information) to specified local law enforcement officials. The bill also prohibits DMH from modifying the terms and conditions of a conditionally released SVP's treatment without approval of the court.
Assembly Bill 1900 by Assemblymember Lieu (D-Torrance) prohibits registered sex offenders who committed crimes against children under the age of 16 from employing minors or working near them. The bill closes a legal loophole by specifying that any person convicted of a sexual offense involving a child 15 years old or younger is prohibited from being an employer or an independent contractor where he or she would have direct, unaccompanied contact with minors on more than an occasional or incidental basis.
Governor Schwarzenegger has been a strong proponent for creating strict laws that protect children and families from sexual offenders. Earlier this year, he established the High Risk Sex Offender (HRSO) Task Force to make immediate recommendations on improving the state's program to track and monitor paroled sex offenders.
Last month, the Governor extended the timeline and expanded the scope of the task force to include sexually violent predators which are under the jurisdiction of the DMH. He also ordered the implementation of the task force's recommendations, including improved procedures for notifying local law enforcement and victims prior to the release of a sex offender from prison, and requiring parole oversight of HRSOs to include a four part program including: treatment, parole supervision, the use of polygraphs and victims' advocacy, to both monitor and modify the behavior of offenders. The task force's recommendations include ten initiatives to help protect communities from paroled sex offenders.
Last year, the Governor sponsored Jessica's Law legislation that would have given California the toughest laws in the nation against sexual predators.
Also last year, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 113, which limits the placement of certain high risk sex offenders within a half mile of schools. Assembly Bill 113 went into effect on January 1, 2006.
Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation in 2004 to put the Megan's Law database on the Internet, which requires the information of certain sex offenders' conviction, physical description, and home address to be listed and available to the general public.