A bill being considered by the Legislature would provide more details about sex offenders’ crimes and provide better notice when they move to a town.
The current version of the bill, however, does not put more restrictions on where sex offenders can live and visit.
“It’s important to Norwich as well as Montville,” state Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville said. Ryan co-sponsored the bill with state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and state Rep. Emmett Riley, D-Norwich.
Ryan spoke in favor of the bill at a hearing held Tuesday by the Legislature’s Committee on Aging.
State Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, is co-chairman of the committee. Osten is a vice chairman and state Rep. Daniel Rovero, D-Killingly, is a member.
“We owe it to our most vulnerable citizens, the seniors, to protect them. We should be responsible for keeping sexual offenders away from areas where our seniors congregate or reside so that they feel safe,” Ryan said in his testimony.
Last year and in 2013, Norwich officials and residents reacted angrily when they learned several paroled sex offenders had been placed in Norwich apartments with what they felt was inadequate notice.
In 2012, in response to the construction in town of the January House, a treatment facility housing sex offenders, Montville passed an ordinance creating “senior safety zones,” which banned sex offenders from entering places where elderly residents live and gather such as the senior center or elderly housing.
The town later rescinded the ordinance after concerns were raised that it would be unconstitutional.
The Legislature considered passing sex offender restrictions similar to Montville’s, but instead, last year, it created the Senior Safety Zone Task Force to study the issue. Osten served as co-chairman of the panel.
In a report issued Jan. 1, the task force issued a report whose recommendations are expected to be the basis of the bill Osten, Riley and Ryan have sponsored.
They are:
n Analyze sex offenders’ crimes to see what groups — such as children, adults or the elderly — might be most at risk and notify appropriate officials when offenders move to a town.
n Have police, parole and probation officers notify senior centers when a sex offender moves to a town.
n Change the state’s sex offender registry to create a tiered system better showing how serious the offenders’ crimes are and the risk they may pose to the public.
n Encourage senior centers and similar places to create a safety plan including training staff members to spot signs of abuse and neglect.
Betsy Ritter, acting commissioner of the state Department on Aging, said she supported the bill and that measures preventing abuse of the elderly are among the highest priorities of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration.
David McGuire, a staff attorney with the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union who also served on the Senior Safety Zone Task Force, said the task force’s recommendations were “well thought out and they don’t offend constitutional principles.”
He said “no-go zones” for sex offenders would invite a court challenge, however.
Sally Zanger, a staff attorney for the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, testified against the bill, saying it hurts the rights of people on the sex offender registry.
“They aren’t all pedophiles, they aren’t all predators,” Zanger said. “It is important to craft legislation that doesn’t just restrict people.”
“The overwhelming majority of people who choose to commit sexual violence have never been caught or convicted and are not on the registry,” Jillian Gilchrest, director of public policy and communication of the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, said in her testimony. “It is vitally important to consider that a senior will more likely be abused by a caregiver, someone who is not on the registry.”
So far, the specific provisions of the bill have not been written, only a general statement of its purpose.
“We have a long way to go,” Osten said.
She said she is certain the bill will be passed by the Aging Committee, and it is likely to be considered by the Judiciary Committee as well.
Once out of committees, the bill would have to be passed by the entire House and Senate and signed by Malloy to become law.
“I hope we come up with a comprehensive plan dealing with several issues regarding sex offenders,” Osten said. ..Source.. by John Barry
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