By NANCY HILER
The woman held up before and after photographs of a predator's local victim, an 8-year-old child first innocently smiling and then tensely avoiding the camera. "We don't see that smiling face very often anymore," the mother said. "We see a face filled with sadness. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and this clearly shows the impact of the abuse."
She spoke at length about loopholes in state law, and provided copies of other states' regulations and research to justify her plea for changes in the law that could have made a difference in her child's case.
The Assembly Republican Sex Offender Watch Task Force, led by Chairman Dave McDonough, a Republican representing Bellmore-Merrick, convened the hearing on April 23. It was one of several the task force is holding throughout the state in an effort to devise a comprehensive strategy to address the confinement and control of sexual predators during all stages of the criminal justice process and beyond.
Republican Assemblymen Thomas McKevitt, who represents areas of East Meadow, Bellmore and Merrick, and Joseph Saladino, who represents Massapequa and Levittown, also participated. They were joined by Nassau and Suffolk County law enforcement officials, local educators, civic group leaders and concerned residents.
The forum focused on reviewing what has taken place, legislatively and in the community, since the last Sex Offender Watch Forum in Merrick in 2007. The task force is examining which laws are effective and which need improvement, according to McDonough. "We feel we must develop some kind of comprehensive strategy not only when sex offenders are incarcerated, but when they come back into the community," he said.
Proposed changes
The task force's findings will help refine its proposed 2009 "Zero Tolerance for Sex Crimes" legislative package. Among the changes to the law included so far in the package are tightened criminal procedures, post-release requirements and cyber predator laws.
"These types of predators, they don't get cured, I don't believe," McDonough said. "It's very possible they will re-offend. Still, they are slipping through the net."
Other measures the task force is proposing include requiring DNA samples of and strengthening penalties for convicted sexual predators, and imposing a "Three Strikes and You're In" provision for life imprisonment.
"We would like to see the worst of the worst kept off the street and behind bars forever," said Saladino.
The task force is also proposing changing the charge of endangering the welfare of a minor, now a misdemeanor, to a felony.
McDonough said, "We need to require background checks for people who are in constant contact with children and the elderly," including nursing home attendants and school bus drivers.
"We need stricter penalties for lesser crimes," McKevitt told the audience. "We're fighting on your behalf, but it's very frustrating."
Residency restrictions
A resident also suggested that the state change the grandfather clause in the sex offender residency law, calling it a loophole. Current law allows convicted sex offenders to return home after serving their sentences, even if they live within 1,000 feet of a school. Otherwise, according to the law, registered sex offenders are not allowed within 1,000 feet of schools. The idea behind the clause is that a move elsewhere might be a hardship that could destabilize a one-time predator.
Kerri Smithers, a Suffolk County police detective, said, "We have to balance residency requirements against keeping their lives as stable as possible so they don't go underground." Offenders who are subjected to "onerous" residency restrictions move from place to place or register as homeless, Smithers said.
"Clearly, it's most dangerous when they go underground and stop registering, so then we can't find them," said Madeline Singas, chief of the Nassau County District Attorney's Office's Special Crimes Unit.
Joe Baker, president of the South Merrick Civic Association and a retired 25-year court officer, said, "Put a chip in them, implanted under the skin like they do with dogs."
"By and large, a lot of them are transient," said Stephen McCauley, a Nassau County Police detective. He suggested that the law be tightened to prohibit convicted offenders from entering school grounds or parks, instead of having a residency distance requirement.
In Alabama, a concerned resident also pointed out, an offender convicted of victimizing a child age 12 or younger is prohibited from living with minors or loitering where they congregate. The resident questioned the appropriateness of a recent local case in which a convicted child molester was permitted to return to a home with small children.
Another way of keeping track of the most serious Level 3 offenders is the current requirement that they update their photos for the registry every year, which means they must check in with police in person. "It's been a big help," said Nassau County Police Lieutenant Richard Zito, commanding officer of the county's Special Victims Section. He agreed that extending the requirement to lower-level offenders might be useful. A Mississippi law requires that sex offenders re-register and be photographed every 90 days wherever drivers' licenses are issued, a resident said.
Workplace registry
Educators and others at the forum asked for enhanced notification to the community of the whereabouts of convicted predators. David Feller, superintendent of the North Merrick School District, said, "I've seen the SPIN notifications evolve. They get to us faster, and the pictures are clearer."
"We do get notified when they live in the district," said Dr. Joseph Famularo, superintendent of the Bellmore School District, "but what about when they work in the district?"
The state Sex Offender Registry provides residency data by ZIP code for all convicted offenders, but limits workplace data to Level 3 offenders. The task force would like to extend the requirement to Level 2 offenders, but several forum participants asked that it be broadened to Level 1 as well.
Police officials said there are about 400 convicted sex offenders living in Nassau County, and 730 in Suffolk.
"Get your guard up," Smithers cautioned. "It's not just the known predators, but the ones you don't know about that are a danger."
Resources
¥ New York State Department of Criminal Justice, www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us.
¥ Parents for Megan's Law, www.parentsformeganslaw.org.
¥ Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect, www.ccanli.org.
¥ Darkness to Light, www.darkness2light.org.
Comments about this story? NHiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000, ext. 234.
