Sex offenders will soon have to report their email addresses, user names and other Internet identifiers to police under a bill Governor Jerry Brown signed Wednesday.
The bill, authored by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), will apply to people convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2017 of Internet-related sex crimes.
Law enforcement can use the information only to investigate a sex crime, kidnapping or human trafficking. Offenders will have 30 days to report new or modified addresses and usernames.
The bill amends parts of California law enacted in 2012 when voters passed Proposition 35, an anti sex-trafficking law.
Proposition 35 passed by statewide ballot with more than 80% of the vote. It increased punishments for human traffickers and expanded the definition of human trafficking to include the creation and distribution of child pornography.
In 2014, a federal court sided with a challenge to the law that argued parts of Proposition 35 violated sex offenders’ constitutional rights. The court gave California until the end of this year to fix flaws it found in the law.
"We have learned that the internet has become extremely popular for sex crimes," Hueso said in a statement last month when the Legislature passed the bill. "We must take action to protect our children and take this growing problem very seriously." ..Source.. by LATimes.com
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