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Voices of victims ignored in new sex offender
sentencing bill
Legislation aimed at
increasing penalties for child molesters focuses too much on
alternatives to incarceration and not enough on justice and protection
of victims, according to state Reps. Richard DeBolt and
Gary
Alexander.
Substitute House Bill 2400 was passed 93-2 today by the House of
Representatives, but GOP lawmakers say the Republican-sponsored measure
was watered down with a Democrat amendment before it passed the House. DeBolt and Alexander say the bill does not deal strongly enough with
child molesters and still allows many to avoid lengthy prison sentences
by opting for treatment under the state Special Sex Offender Sentencing
Alternative (SSOSA).
“There is no evidence that these treatment options are reducing the
tendency of these child rapists to reoffend,” said Alexander, R-Olympia.
“In the meantime we’re turning our neighborhoods into prisons by
offering early release to sex offenders who opt for treatment and other
community-based alternatives to prison time. We’re gambling with the
safety of our children, and that’s not acceptable.”
SHB 2400 has mobilized the Tennis Shoe Brigade, a child victims’
advocacy group that fought successfully in 1990 for stronger penalties
for sex offenders. The group says it does not support the current
version of the bill, and delivered hundreds of children’s shoes to the
office of the House Speaker to protest the Democrat leader’s
unwillingness to adopt the stronger mandatory sentences for child
molesters.
“The victims of child molestation and their families have come to tell
us loud and clear that the system fails to mete out proper justice,”
said DeBolt, R-Chehalis. “The treatment options provided in the
substitute bill continue to serve as a loophole for sex offenders hoping
to avoid extended prison time. We should be more concerned about the
safety of our communities and offering justice to victims than trying to
keep sex offenders out of prison.”
DeBolt and Alexander said they remain hopeful the measure can be
improved in the Senate and a version that is acceptable to the victims’
group sent on to the governor.
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Public
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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