Singas: Stricter sex offender law needed

She and Murray call on state to pass bills

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Madeline Singas, Nassau County’s acting district attorney, continued her push for greater restrictions for registered sex offenders last week at a North Merrick civic group meeting.

The setting was significant. Weeks earlier, police arrested a North Merrick man at his home on Old Mill Road, near an elementary school, and charged him with online sex crimes involving children. He was not a registered offender, however.

Earlier this year, the state Court of Appeals in Albany struck down a Nassau law that went further than state law in restricting where registered sex offenders may live. The decision overturned similar local laws across New York. Days after the February ruling, Singas petitioned state legislators to strengthen laws regulating sex offenders. In a letter to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and then-Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Singas called for “a thorough and comprehensive review of all local laws that have been enacted on this issue, with the goal of enacting the strongest possible state law.”

One week later, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill that would allow municipalities to set residency restrictions for registered sex offenders (Sen. Michael Venditto, of Massapequa, sponsored the bill, S3925). The Democratic-controlled Assembly has not taken up the measure.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, a Republican running against Singas for D.A. this year, joined Venditto and other Republican elected officials on May 1 at an Eisenhower Park playground for a news conference in support of the senator’s bill. They argued that localities could police themselves better than the state.

Murray said the town was already crafting its own restrictions for registered sex offenders in anticipation of the bill becoming law. “Working together, we can help keep our communities safe,” Murray said. “I encourage residents to contact their state legislators to urge their support of this bill for the sake of our children.”

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