Assemblyman David G. McDonough (R,I,C-Merrick), at a press conference in Albany, today announced that, since May he and his colleagues, collected more than 15,000 signatures as part of a petition drive demanding that the Assembly majority stop stalling and pass legislation that will protect New Yorkers from dangerous sexual predators.

“It is the responsibility of government to ensure the safety of all its citizens, and this legislation would provide parents and law enforcement with the tools they need to accomplish that,” said McDonough, vice chairman of the Assembly Minority Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women. “Preventing sexual predators from living near where children learn and play is just plain common sense. My proposals would give our communities access to more information about sex offenders and keep track of their whereabouts. At the top of my legislative must-do list is civil confinement, which would keep a small but extremely dangerous group of sex offenders away from the public and where they belong.”

Included on the petition is legislation that would allow for civil confinement of the worst sex offenders in secure mental health facilities beyond their prison release dates if, upon extensive evaluation and a unanimous jury verdict, it is determined they could strike again.

McDonough noted the petition also includes proposals to strengthen New York’s Megan’s Law by tracking known sex offenders’ whereabouts, prohibiting them from living near schools and school grounds, providing more information about sexual predators to communities and requiring lifetime registration of offenders on the state Sex Offender Registry.

In the absence of stronger statewide laws to protect children from convicted sex offenders, numerous localities have taken matters into their own hands. Binghamton city officials recently enacted a law preventing sex offenders from living or being within a quarter-mile of a school, day care center, playground or park. In Westchester County, satellite tracking devices were recently put into use to monitor freed sex offenders. In the Capital Region, Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties are all eyeing local legislation to help protect residents from sex offenders.

Residents interested in joining the petition drive may e-mail Assemblyman McDonough at McDonoD@assembly.state.ny.us for more information.