ALEC Passes Model Legislation to Protect Children from Sexual Predators

24 May 2006

The National Board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) today approved the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act, following a unanimous vote of its Criminal Justice Task Force at the recent Spring Task Force Summit.

"Recent headlines throughout the country show that America's children are increasingly at risk of becoming victims of sexual abuse," said Utah Representative Paul Ray, chair of ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force and Sexual Crime Prevention Subcommittee. "This no-nonsense model bill will help police and prosecutors keep the hard-core sexual predator away from our kids."

The legislation requires mandatory minimum sentences of at least 10 years in prison up to the death penalty for such crimes as kidnapping, possession of child pornography and attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to engage in sexual conduct with a minor. Moreover, it requires those sexual predators convicted under the act to register with law-enforcement at least twice a year at random and pay for their own electronic monitoring device if they are granted supervised release or probation by the courts. ALEC's legislative members are committed to protecting our children through tough penalties against those criminals who prey on them.

"Sexual crimes are the worst type because they harm an innocent child for life," said Kansas Representative Peggy Mast, member of ALEC's Sexual Crime Prevention Subcommittee. "This model bill will help protect our kids and bring perpetrators to justice."

There are currently 550,000 sexual predators estimated nationwide, according to the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children. ALEC's model legislation is a strong tool to punish these sexual predators.

The Criminal Justice Task Force will continue its work in the area of sexual crime prevention on the state level and in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice's "Project Safe Childhood," which seeks to increase federal attention to this growing problem. ALEC's Sexual Crime Prevention subcommittee will address issues ranging from properly interviewing child victims of sexual crimes and civil commitment of unreformed sexual ex- convicts in its future meetings.

To schedule an interview with Utah Representative Paul Ray, ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force chair; Kansas Representative Peggy Mast, member of ALEC's Sexual Crime Prevention Subcommittee; or ALEC's director of criminal justice, Christopher Oswald, please call Lori Drummer at 202-466-3800 or Stella Melley at 202-431-6461.

-----

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation's largest nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators, with over 2,400 legislator members from all fifty states, and 97 alumni members serving in the U.S. Congress.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

Source: usnewswire

All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.