Relates to level three designation for certain sex offenders under the sex offender registration act

1 Co-sponsor

• Tony Avella

BILL NUMBER:S356

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to level three designation for certain sex offenders

Purpose

To mandate that any offender required to register pursuant to the Sexual Offender Registration Act will be designated "level three" if their offense was committed against a child of ten years or less.

Summary of provisions

Amends paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 168-1 of the correction law as amended by chapter 318 and 680 of the laws of 2005.

Justification

The genesis of New York State's Sexual Offender Registration Act (SORA) is rooted in the tragic death of a young child at the hands of a repeat sexual predator in New Jersey. Communities under S0RA, have an expectation that they will be notified if a sexual predator resides in their midst. But, this is not necessarily so; in fact this is probably not the case. Notification is not mandatory and it has recently come to light that there is a massive 7800 case backlog with respect to risk assessment. This bill would mandate a "level three" designation for all offenders convicted of committing or attempting to commit sex offenses against children aged ten years or less. Pursuant to the correction law, all level three offenders must be maintained on a sub-directory by the state. This sub-directory shall be made available at all times on the internet via the division homepage. Therefore, this bill would effectively guarantee a community's ability to be aware of the presence of a sexual offender of young children in their surroundings.

Legislative history

2004: S.7035 - Passed Senate 2007-08: S.1702 - Passed Senate 2009-10: S.406 - Referred to Crime, Crime Victims and Corrections

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

The first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.