As part of his “State of the State” address on Wednesday, Gov. George Pataki unveiled a legislative plan designed to further protect New York’s children, families and communities from dangerous sexual predators.

“Providing greater protection for children, women and our communities is one of my legislative priorities for the 2006 Session,” said Assemblyman David G. McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick), Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Minority Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women. “Our first order of business in the Assembly should be the extension of Megan’s Law, Sex Offender Registry provisions regarding the posting of particular convicted sex offenders on the state Web-site and local law enforcement notification of a sex offender’s release. If these provisions are allowed to expire sex offenders will be dropped from the registry and allowed to roam freely on our streets.”

Beginning in 1992, as part of their yearly legislative initiative, the Assembly minority took the lead in demanding action on legislation for civil confinement of the most dangerous sexual predators; creating longer prison sentences for perpetrators of sexually violent crimes; strengthening Megan’s Law; ending the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assaults; and requiring all criminals to submit DNA samples.

Civil Confinement ff Sexually Violent Predators

Civil confinement would allow the courts to order the most dangerous convicted sex offenders – classified as Level 3 predators – held in secure mental-health facilities beyond their prison release dates if, upon extensive evaluation and unanimous jury verdicts, it is determined they could strike again. Under current law, sexually violent predators are released into communities once their sentences are finished despite the strong possibility they will offend again.

Longer Sentences for Perpetrators of Sexually Violent Crimes

Increasing prison sentences for crimes that involve the abuse, molestation or rape of children, or violent or repeated sexual assaults, would ensure that dangerous sexual predators who prey on New York’s children and families will remain confined.

Strengthening Megan’s Law

The 10-year registration mandate for certain Level 1 and 2 sex offenders on the state Sex Offender Registry will end on January 21, and the identities and locations of 168 of the convicted predators will be dropped from the registry during the first 24 hours. By year’s end, information about more than 3,500 sex offenders would disappear from the registry if the provision is not amended or extended.

Legislative proposals have been continually advanced that would establish a lifetime registration on the state Sex Offender Registry for all sex offenders, regardless of classification; expand the information available on the Internet to include all registered sex offenders; strengthen the community notification process to ensure the public receives necessary information from law enforcement about all sex offenders living in their communities; and improve offender address verification by eliminating the loophole which currently hampers the sex offender address verification process.

Requiring All Criminals to Give a DNA Sample

Expansion of the state DNA databank would help state law enforcement personnel solve many of the more than 16,000 unsolved crimes for which forensic crime scene evidence has been entered into the databank.

End the Statute of Limitations on Rape, Sexual Assaults and Related Crimes

Advance legislation that, in prosecutions of suspects for specified sex crimes such as rape, criminal sexual act, aggravated sexual abuse and sexual crimes against a child, the five-year statute of limitation period would not start until available DNA evidence directly connects a defendant to the commission of that crime, provided the victim reported the crime within five years of its occurrence.