Res. No. 1089-A

Resolution in support of legislation that improves the national program to register and monitor individuals who commit sex offenses against children.

By Council Members Vallone Jr., Gentile, McMahon, Monserrate, Sanders Jr., Oddo, Lanza, Jackson and Liu

                     Whereas, Sexual offenses, particularly those committed against children, are especially vicious and those responsible for such heinous acts deserve harsh punishment and constant monitoring; and

Whereas In addition, citizens deserve easy access to sex offender information to inform themselves about predators in their communities; and 

                     Whereas, According to the U.S. Department of Justice, on average, child molesters were released after serving three of their seven year sentence and released sex offenders were four times more likely to be rearrested for a sex crime than non-sex offenders; and

Whereas, Under the current system of sex offender registration, there is a wide disparity among state sex offender programs, in both registration and notification procedures, creating a system that allows many sex offenders to go unnoticed after serving prison terms and remaining undetected by local authorities unless searched for in the national database maintained by the FBI; and

Whereas, Although there are currently approximately 550,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, most of these receive and serve limited sentences and roam unchecked and unknown in our communities; an estimated 100,000 sex offenders have failed to register with their respective states; and

Whereas, In New York alone, there are 21,000 registered offenders and about 7,000 more who are not registered; and

Whereas, One such case that demonstrates the urgency for such reform is Nicholas Chaney of Watertown, who served as a foster parent to more than 50 children despite his conviction in 1989 of two counts of statutory rape of a 16-year-old in Washington state; and

Whereas, On May 19, 2005, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act was introduced in Congress that integrates more than 20 years of legislation into a comprehensive package governing the treatment of sexual offenders; and

Whereas, This bill seeks to increase and tighten tracking of sex offenders nationally and provide standards for notifying the public about these predators by:  fully integrating Megan’s Law and the Lynchner Amendments; expanding crimes against children to include solicitation through the internet; requiring pre-release registration; biannual, in-person registration; increasing the duration for periodic registration; shortening the time to comply; requiring tax information, social security numbers, photographs and fingerprints to be provided to the registry; implementing tracking devices; maintaining a searchable statewide sex offender registry; immediate electronic notification of a sex offender’s intent to relocate; and implementing a sex offender DNA database; and 

Whereas, The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of North America; and

                     Whereas, Given the government’s responsibility to ensure protection of the most vulnerable members of society and the lack of resources devoted to enforcing current registration laws on a regular basis, reform is imperative in order for more consistency among state programs for sex offender registration and community notification; now, therefore, be it  

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York supports legislation that improves the national program to register and monitor individuals who commit sex offenses against children.