Thursday, May 11, 2006
Contact: Spence Jackson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Praises Legislation Keeping Sexual Predators Away from Children
JEFFERSON CITY–Gov. Matt Blunt today applauded House and Senate members for answering his call for tough mandatory sentences for sexual offenders who prey on young victims. The bill, including some provisions modeled after Florida’s Jessica’s law, was among the governor’s top legislative priorities for the session.
“I commend the House and Senate for joining me to protect young victims through tough mandatory minimum sentences that will ensure the worst sexual predators stay off the streets and behind bars as long as possible,” Blunt said. “These criminals prey on defenseless children. Increasing mandatory time served is a small price to pay to stop another child from becoming a victim.”
Both legislative bodies today truly agreed and finally passed House Bill 1698. The bill mandates a lifetime sentence with a minimum of 30 years served for forcible rape or forcible sodomy when the victim is younger than age 12. This provision exceeds the 25 mandatory minimum Blunt called for more than nine months ago.
The bill also strengthens laws protecting children from predators who might use the internet to access victims. The bill specifies that these laws apply even when a sexual predator is communicating with law enforcement posing as a child.
In addition it adds new tools to the state’s sex offender registry including more reporting details and an 800 number to be operated by the highway patrol to make information more accessible. Under the legislation sex offender registries would now show any known alias, any available photos, physical descriptions, release date and other new details in addition to information currently available.
The bill complements legislation the governor signed last year strengthening Missouri’s sex offender laws and requiring lifetime monitoring for criminals convicted of certain sex offenses against children as a condition of parole. Missouri was among the first states in the nation to require the lifetime global positioning satellite (GPS) tracking.
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