California Bill Proposes Stricter Sex Offender Laws
A new California bill would put some child molesters in prison for life after a first offense under stricter sex offender laws.
The parents of slain San Diego County teenager Chelsea King are pushing for a stricter penalties on sex offenders including more time on parole with electronic monitoring, the Los Angeles Times reports. The legislation is called Chelsea's Law.
The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego) and calls for some child molesters to be on lifetime parole with electronic monitoring. The bill would establish a new penalty of a life sentence without the possibility of parole for forcible sex crimes against those younger than 18 when there are aggravating circumstances.
As previously discussed, John Gardner, a 30-year-old registered sex offender has pleaded not guilty to murdering Chelsea King.
By revising California's sex offender laws, King's parents hope to prevent sexual predators of a second chance.
At the time 17-year-old Chelsea King was murdered, Gardner had previously been convicted of child molestation.
In addition, Gardner's MySpace account was recently shutdown because using a computer violated his terms of parole, as previously discussed. His last login was on Feb. 24, the day before Chelsea went missing.
King's murder has been a tipping point for some who have even started a Facebook page campaign Support One Strike Law for Sex Offenders, which has attracted about 6,500 people so far.
But legal experts say that the 1-strike law for sex offenders already exists.
The laws require sexual offenders to register their home addresses. In addition, some of the provisions prohibit them from living near within 2,000 feet of schools or parks.
The King family and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher said their goal is to urge lawmakers to do everything within their power to ensure safe communities.
- "Chelsea's Law" introduced in Sacramento (San Diego Times Union)
- Calif. bill would crack down on child molesters (Associated Press)
- MySpace Removes Convicted Sex Offender John Gardner (FindLaw)