| |
House ignores pleas of
victims in weakened
sex offender sentencing bill
A bill to enact stronger
penalties for child molesters fails to address the concerns of victims
and their families, says
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor.
“It’s unfortunate that the
version of House Bill 2400 passed late last night isn’t the original
strongly worded bill that received the unanimous bipartisan support of
the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee last month,” said
Bailey. “This is a disappointment for House Republicans and especially
for the families of young sex-crime victims who hoped state lawmakers
would take a tougher stand against child molesters.”
Substitute House Bill 2400 passed 93-2 in the House of Representatives,
but GOP lawmakers say it’s unfortunate the Republican-sponsored measure
was watered down with a Democrat amendment before it passed the House.
“In the end, I and a majority of my colleagues supported the modified
proposal because it represents a small improvement over existing law,”
continued Bailey. “However, let it be known that this legislation does
not deal strongly enough with child molesters and still allows many
offenders to avoid lengthy prison sentences.
“The voices of victims are crying out for stronger penalties to protect
others from the harm that these predatory criminals inflict on innocent
children,” said Bailey, who serves on the Children and Family Services
Committee. “The treatment option has not proven effective in reducing
recidivism and has become a loophole for offenders who want to avoid
longer prison sentences. Meanwhile, their victims are sentenced to a
lifetime of pain and anguish. We need stronger penalties to ensure
justice for victims and to keep these child molesters off the street.”
Bailey says one section in
particular of the Democrat substitute illustrates why the weakened
legislation that passed will never be enough. It says the term of
incarceration for SSOSA offenders is 12 months or the maximum of the
standard range, whichever is less. That may sound meaningful, said
Bailey, but it also allows for the offender to serve the 12-month term
in work release, home detention, or a work crew.
“This is wrong. These
criminals should be in prison,” said Bailey. “When dealing with child
molesters, the protection of children should be placed above all else.
There is no margin for error. The bill as it was amended and passed by
the House goes to great lengths to preserve more lenient sentencing
options and deal with these heinous crimes in some way other than
incarceration. There may be a place for treatment options for less
serious offenders, but never at the expense of victims and the safety of
children who are at risk when offenders are released back into our
communities.”
Supporters of a tougher HB 2400 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 legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration. Because the
bill is budget-related, it is not subject to the same deadlines as
policy bills, which mean Senators have until midnight March 11 to deal
with it.
# # #
For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
|
|