VT- 'Brooke's Law' To Be Signed By Governor Wednesday

Does anyone see what steps they have taken? At best it seems they made the sentence longer, but if only that, what have they done to prevent the circumstances that led up to the death of Brooke. By making sentence longer all they have done is put off the circumstances till sometime in the future. Is this a case of wordsmithing?

3-4-2009 Vermont:

Law Stiffens Penalties Against Sex Offenders

ROYALTON, Vt. -- In the summer of 2008, sex crimes against children were thrust into the forefront of local residents' minds when a 12-year-old Braintree, Vt., girl went missing, only to be found days later in a shallow grave -- the apparent victim of a violent sexually motivated murder committed by a family member, according to federal prosecutors.

Brooke Bennett, a basketball and lacrosse player who had just finished seventh grade, disappeared June 25 after being seen with her uncle at a local convenience store. She was found dead a week later, buried not far from the home of her uncle, Michael Jacques, who police say drugged, sexually assaulted and killed Bennett by putting a plastic bag over her head.

Police have said Jacques was part of an online sex ring that involved Bennett's former stepfather and a young relative Jacques had been sexually abusing.

Wednesday, Gov. Jim Douglas will sign new child sex offender legislation named after the slain girl into law. Know as "Brooke's Law," the new legislation was prompted by her death and stiffens penalties against child sex offenders.

The state's sex offender penalties had come under scrutiny before the Bennett case came to light, but intensified after her death.

Jacques had a history of sex crimes against minors and had already spent time in jail for kidnapping and sexual assaulting a teenager in 1992. Court papers also tell of a female relative Jacques began sexually abusing when the girl was just 8 years old, which culminated in his arrest in 1985.

The documents, including a 1985 affidavit from an Orange County court, outline seven years of alleged sexual abuse that included oral sex and vaginal intercourse, which eventually resulted in the then-15 year-old girl being impregnated by Jacques.

Despite his past, Judge Amy Davenport allowed Jacques to be removed from probation seven years early in 2006, according to court documents. This came after a state Department of Corrections parole officer recommended it in 2004.

When Jacques' past came to light, it drew outrage from parents, politicians and others who were puzzled at how a man with such a history could be released.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas asked the corrections commissioner to review all of its policies related to this case -- how it monitors offenders, whether treatment is effective and how it deals with violent sex crimes.

A legislative panel met several times in the summer and fall to weigh proposals for cracking down on sex crimes against children.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin announced a series of special committee meetings and public hearings to discuss the matter.

Still others called for the death penalty and mandatory sentencing laws, sometimes referred to as Jessica's Law. Douglas even called for a one-day special legislative session for lawmakers to vote on a civil confinement law, an expanded sex offender registry and mandatory minimum sentencing law.

Many Vermonters rallied for tougher child sex laws and thrust their support into a mandatory minimum sentence like the one Douglas plans to sign Wednesday. ..News Source.. by WPTZ.com