Senate approves bipartisan legislation to strengthen sex offender laws

OLYMPIA – Today, Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, shepherded through the Senate a package of wide-ranging, bipartisan bills designed to enhance public safety through, among other things, tougher monitoring and registration requirements for sex offenders, increased penalties for those who use the Internet to prey on children, and improved community education programs to help families avoid sexual predators.

The measures are largely based on the recommendations of the Attorney General’s Office; prosecutors, victims and law enforcement officials; and the bipartisan Joint Sex Offender Management Task Force, which met this past interim.

“Our goal with this package of bills is maximum public safety, regardless of the cost,” said Hargrove, chair of the Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee.

“It’s always been important to me to provide ‘sense and sensibility’ on this volatile issue; but at the same time, I realize we need to be tough on those who commit these reprehensible crimes against children,” said Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, who co-chaired the sex offender task force in 2005. “This package gives prosecutors, law enforcement and victims’ advocates the tools they’ve asked for to better deal with sex offenders.”

“My goal is to focus on how we can educate children and families to protect themselves from becoming victims,” said Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, who sponsored several measures to protect children, including one bill that increases penalties for “red flag” crimes that often lead to other sexual offenses, such as using the Internet to groom a child for sexual purposes. “We can and should work toward bringing all sexual predators to justice, but we also need to be proactive in arming Washington’s families with information about how to stay safe online and in our communities.”

The measures that the Senate approved today include:

• SB 6172 (McAuliffe), which increases penalties for voyeurism, possessing child pornography and using the Internet to communicate with a minor for immoral purposes.
• SB 6319 (Regala), which clarifies and strengthens registration requirements for sex offenders.
• SB 6320 (Regala), which requires the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to create a model statewide policy on community notification of sex offenders moving into neighborhoods.
• SB 6322 (Regala), which permits the Department of Corrections to select sex offenders for electronic monitoring, within existing resources.
• SB 6325 (Regala), which re-enacts a 2005 law restricting sex offenders who are sentenced for a first two-strikes offense against a minor from living within 880 feet of a public or private school.
• SB 6406 (Hargrove), which adds the crime of assault of a child in the second degree with sexual motivation to the list of “two-strikes” offenses, and to the list of crimes subject to determinate-plus sentencing.
• SB 6409 (Hargrove), which requires a defendant to admit to the crime he or she is charged with to be eligible for sentencing under the Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA), or the juvenile version, the Special Sex Offender Disposition Alternative (SSODA), if he or she is pleading guilty.
• SB 6460 (Hargrove), which increases penalties for sexually motivated felonies.
• SB 6465 (McAuliffe), which makes it a crime to harbor or provide false information to authorities about a sex offender if it is known that the sex offender is not complying with registration requirements.
• SB 6478 (Regala), which creates a process for a person to obtain a sexual assault protection order if he or she is a victim of nonconsensual sexual contact.
• SB 6479 (Regala), which clarifies that any communications between a sexual assault advocate and a victim are privileged.
• SB 6576 (Hargrove), which requires county sheriffs to forward a sex offender’s risk level classification to the Washington State Patrol for inclusion in the state’s central registry sex and kidnapping offenders.
• SB 6580 (McAuliffe), which directs state officials to create a model policy on how schools and personnel should respond when notified about a juvenile sex offender attending the school; and to develop educational materials for families and communities on how to avoid victimization, particularly for young children, and how to use community resources for victims of sexual assault.
• SB 6775 (Hargrove), which creates a new crime of criminal trespass against children, and allows owners and employees of any facility considered to have as its significant purpose the education, care or recreation of children to order any level II or level III sex offender who has been convicted of a sex offense against a minor to leave the premises.

Senate Democrats said that although Washington has one of the toughest, most comprehensive systems in the nation for punishing and monitoring sex offenders, the measures passed today will help fill the gaps in the system. They also called on Washington families to remain partners with the state in keeping all children safe.

“In the end, these bills do not replace parents,” Hargrove said. “We still need good parents to watch out for their kids.”

The bipartisan package of bills also includes:

• SB 6144 (Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington), which requires new and returning residents to register in Washington for all crimes committed on, before or after 1990.
• SB 6315 (Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood), which keeps landlords who rent to sex offenders immune from liability for damages caused by the tenant.
• SB 6502 (Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn), which creates a statewide automated victim information and notification system.
• SB 6519 (Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver), which requires Level III sex offenders to report in person to the appropriate county sheriff every 90 days.

Already passed (Jan. 16) was SB 5042 (Sen. Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane Valley), which establishes that current limitations for prosecuting felony sex offenses begin to run from the later of: the date the crime is committed; or one year from the date on which the identity of the offender is established by DNA testing.

All the bills now move to the House of Representatives for further consideration. The 2006 session is scheduled to adjourn March 9.

Summary of sex offender bills (PDF)

Return to Sen. Hargrove's home page