By Hector Flores
Legislator Kevan Abrahams, a Democrat of Hempstead, said the new bill would bar registered sex offenders from living 600 feet from schools, parks and playgrounds. If approved, the law would give Nassau County one of the strictest sex offender laws in New York state.
The announcement was made on the front steps of the Nassau County Legislature in Mineola. "This law will ensure that the county's vulnerable children are not victimized by repeat sex offenders," said Abrahams. "Up until now, registered sex offenders could be released from jail and move right next to a school or park, even if their original crime was committed at a similar site."
Abrahams explained that the proposed bill would prohibit any registered Level II or III sex offender from living within 600 feet of the entrances to a school or from the perimeter of a county, town, village or city-run public park that has a playground. The law, however, would not apply to offenders who established residency before Sept. 1, 2005.
"Registered sex offenders have the highest rate of recidivism," Abrahams added. "We are targeting a population that commits crimes against children, and this legislation would prevent children from being harmed again. The law will ensure that children will be able to play with other children without fear of being preyed upon."
Abrahams's call for the bill was spurred two years ago by an incident in Roosevelt in which a registered sex offender was reported living next door to the Harry Daniels School, which houses children from kindergarten to fourth-grade.
According to Patricia Charthern, principal at Harry Daniels, the registered sex offender was from another town and living next door to the school. "We contacted Abrahams and told him about our situation," she said. "Thankfully, the sex offender no longer lives there. But now we just want to prevent this from happening again."
The first legislator to support Abrahams's bill was David Denenberg, a Democrat of Merrick, whose support for the proposed legislation began after he toured schools in Freeport and Roosevelt with Abrahams.
"We were at Dodd Middle School in Freeport, talking about the situation in Roosevelt," Denenberg recalled. "We decided that something needed to be done. We met with Laura Ahearn, [executive director of Parents for Megan's Law], and she said that we should consider placing distance requirements on registered sex offenders."
Ahearn said the proposed legislation would protect children who cannot speak for themselves. "We are getting calls from residents telling us that a sex offender is living across from a school," she said. "Sex offenders pose the highest risk of recidivism. Although the bill will not eliminate sex offenders, it will decrease their population."
According to Ahearn, there are about 21,000 registered sex offenders in New York state, and political infighting in Albany is hampering efforts to protect the public from them. "Counties such as Suffolk, Nassau and Binghamton are having to step up to the plate, because state lawmakers get caught up in political battles, and nothing gets accomplished," she said. "It's becoming a trend for local municipalities to pass sex-offender management legislation, because the states aren't coming through."
Deputy Presiding Officer Roger Corbin, a Democrat of Westbury, who also supports the legislation, said, "I'm proud of this legislation. In the beginning of the year, we created a data base [of registered sex offenders] and made it mandatory for this information to be available to the public. Now predators are moving [near] our schools. We need this legislation to limit where sex offenders can live."
Presiding Officer Judith Jacobs, a Democrat of Woodbury, said that although this is budget season, the Legislature will make sure to place the new legislation in the budget so that the county can afford to enforce the new bill once it passes.
Legislator David Mejias, a Democrat of North Massapequa, explained that the proposed bill is expected to survive judicial scrutiny, because it is designed to withstand constitutional muster.
"The law is not too exclusionary," Mejias said. "Sex offenders are not barred from living in Nassau County; they are just instructed to live 600 feet away from schools or parks. In addition, there is a grandfather clause that allows any offender who had set up their residency before Sept. 1, 2005, to stay.
According to Mejias, any registered sex offender who establishes residency after Sept. 1, and lives closer than the 600 feet buffer zone, will be given 60 days to move after a first notice. A failure to move from the buffer zone will result in a violation punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and possible jail time.
Barbara Bernstein, executive director of the Nassau chapter of New York Civil Liberties Union, said the legislation would give a false sense of comfort. "If a sex offender is prohibited to live 600 feet from a school or playground and moves just to 610 feet away, would that make you feel safer?" she asked.
Bernstein said the best solution would be to create a uniform guideline throughout the state. "The law is crazy because communities would end up having different barriers, and the burden of housing a registered sex offender will fall on the next community."
She added that Nassau's proposed legislation only does a disservice to rehabilitation. "When you release a sex offender, the idea is that he become rehabilitated," she said. "Anything that will drive him underground, or prevent him from getting a job or a place to live, would work against that rehabilitation."
Bernstein said it would be best for the public to take general precautions against sex offenders. "Teach your children to be cautious inside or outside arbitrary barriers," she said. "The same way we take general precautions against AIDS. You assume everyone has AIDS. Understand this, 90 percent of sex offenses are committed within families. Barriers will not prevent sex offenders who have yet to commit their crimes. You must take general precaution so you are not victimized by a false sense of security."
Abrahams's proposed bill is expected to come before the Legislature next month.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
