Broaden Sex Offender Definition

Section two of the bill would amend Correction Law § 168-a(2)(d)(iii) to define, as a sex offense, a conviction for 18 U.S.C. § 1470, transfer of obscene material to minors, and 18 U.S.C. § 1591, sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion.

Section three of the bill would amend Correction Law § 168-b(12) to authorize the Division to provide records pertaining to level one sex offenders required to register for life to public housing authorities.

Section four of the bill provides that the bill becomes effective on the ninetieth day after enactment. This section also specifies that regis- tration is required for persons currently registered for a sexually motivated felony, a conviction for a sexually motivated felony if the crime was committed on or after the effective date, or, if the basis for registration is a conviction in another jurisdiction, registration is required if the offender establishes a residence in New York on or after the effective date. Further, this section states that an offender convicted by a federal court of 18 U.S.C. § 1470 or § 1591 must register if the offender establishes a residence in New York on or after the effective date or, if the conviction was by a federal court located within the borders of New York State, upon a conviction occurring on or after the effective date.

Justification

Recently the-New York County Supreme Court held that a defendant's offense of attempted robbery in the second degree as a sexually moti- vated felony did not constitute a "sex offense" for which registration under Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) was required. The Court held that the omission of a parenthetical number preceding "as a sexually motivated felony" in SORA limited qualifying sexually motivated felony offenses to those enumerated in previous subsections (see, People v. Lawrence, 53 N.Y.S.3d 513 N.Y. SUP. CT. 2017). This bill would clari- fy the Legislature's intent to encompass all sexually motivated felonies within the definition of a sex offense requiring registration. Public safety and the intent of the Legislature should not be compromised by a grammatical error.

This bill would also amend SORA to add two federal offenses, transfer of obscene material to minors and sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion, to the list of registerable offenses. information regarding persons convicted of offenses in other jurisdictions, includ- ing federal offenses, are provided to the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders, as required by Correction Law § 168-k, for a determination whether the crime of conviction requires registration as a sex offender. Registration is necessary when the offense includes all of the essential elements of a New York registerable offense. The federal offenses of transfer of obscene material to minors and sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion do not meet the essential elements test. Although these offenses all involve sexual conduct towards children, persons convicted of these offenses are escaping registration because there is no equivalent New York State sex offense. This proposal would close this loophole so that all persons convicted of federal sex crimes against children residing in New York State must register with the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

Sex offenders required to register for life are banned from public hous- ing (see, 42 U.S.C. § 13663). All offenders designated as a sexual pred- ator, a sexually violent offender or a predicate sex offender are required to register for life, including those who were determined to be a level one risk. However, the Division is currently allowed to provide information only about level two and level three sex offenders to a public housing authority. This loophole makes it difficult for a housing authority to detect and bar such lifetime level one sex offenders from public housing as required by federal law. This bill would close that loophole.

The three amendments made by this bill would make New York safer by ensuring that all sex offenders in the State must register. Individuals who further the abuse of victims in the child sex trade or through the transfer of child pornography would no longer be able to escape monitor- ing by law enforcement or community notification.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments made to subpara- graph (i)of paragraph(a)of subdivision two of section 168-a of the correction law by section one of this act shall apply to persons regis- tered as a sex offender for a sexually motivated felony prior to the effective date of this act and to offenses committed on or after such date or, in the case of a person convicted in another jurisdiction, to offenders who have established a residence in this state on or after such date. Provided further that the amendments made to subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (d) of subdivision two of section 168-a of the correction law by section two of this act shall apply to offenders who have established a residence in this state on or after such date or, if the conviction occurred in a court located within the geographical boun- daries of the State of New York, to offenders convicted on or after such date.