Thursday, March 9, 2006
Contact: Spence Jackson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Thanks Senate for Joining Fight to Protect Missouri Children
JEFFERSON CITY–Gov. Matt Blunt today thanked members of the Senate for passing Senate Bill 588 that would strengthen Missouri’s sex offender laws and help protect children from sexual predators. Blunt called on the General Assembly to enact such legislation last year.
“Sex crimes, especially those against children, are abhorrent. I thank members of the Senate for acting decisively to keep sexual offenders who prey on children behind bars or under the watchful eye of the law their entire lives,” Blunt said. “I encourage House members to act quickly to pass the bill through their chamber and join the fight to protect Missouri’s children from dangerous sexual offenders. Too many children have been victims. We must act now to ensure they have appropriate protection under the law.”
Senate Bill 588 provides new tools for law enforcement personnel and prosecutors to pursue sex offenders. This legislation is similar to “Jessica’s Law” passed in Florida and protects children by creating a lifetime sentence, with no less than 25 years served in prison, for criminals convicted of the most heinous sexual crimes against children younger than 12. The bill also calls for this group of sexual offenders to be under law enforcement supervision for their entire lives.
The legislation increases the minimum term of imprisonment for individuals deemed to be “persistent sexual offenders” from 30 years, to life without eligibility for probation or parole. Persistent sexual offenders are those who repeatedly violate children. Senate Bill 588 ensures they would not have the chance to harm a child again.
More and more predators are using the Internet to entice children for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct. Senate Bill 588 increases the penalty for those enticing, persuading, coaxing, soliciting or luring a child to a class C felony with a prison term not less than five years.
The bill also strengthens Missouri’s Sexual Offender Registry by requiring offenders to submit updated photographs to the Missouri State Highway Patrol regularly and by adding new identifiers to improve the registry.
The legislation passed today compliments a bill Blunt signed last year that calls on law enforcement to track sexual offenders by use of global positioning satellite, commonly called GPS. Senate Bill 588 will move to the House before going to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
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