A
new California law, Assembly
Bill 488 (Nicole Parra),
sponsored by the Attorney General now provides the public with Internet
access to detailed information on registered sex offenders.
This expanded access
allows the public for the first time to use their
personal computers to view information on sex offenders required to
register with local law enforcement under California's Megan's Law.
Previously, the information was available only by personally visiting
police stations and sheriff offices or by calling a 900 toll-number.
The new law was given final passage by the Legislature on August 24,
2004 and signed by the Governor on September 24, 2004.
For more than 50
years, California has required sex offenders to
register with their local law enforcement agencies. However,
information on the whereabouts of these sex offenders was not available
to the public until the implementation of the Child Molester
Identification Line in July 1995. The information available was further
expanded by California's Megan's Law in 1996 (Chapter 908, Stats. of
1996).
California's Megan's
Law provides the public with certain information
on the whereabouts of sex offenders so that members of our local
communities may protect themselves and their children. Megan's Law is
named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped
and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street
from the family without their knowledge. In the wake of the tragedy,
the Kankas sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders
in the area. All states now have a form of Megan's Law.
The law is not
intended to punish the offender and specifically
prohibits using the information to harass or commit any crime against
an offender.
Enter California's Megan's Law sex offender locator site.
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